PGN June 12- 15 2009 edition by The Philadelphia Gay News

Philadelphia Gay News Vol. 33 No. 24

Honesty Integrity Professionalism

June 12 - 18, 2009

City funding crisis almost derails Pride parade By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer

GOING UP: The William Way LGBT Community Center unveiled its long-awaited elevator during its annual Building Bash June 6. Center executive director ’Dolph Ward Goldenburg (front, left) gathered in front of the new elevator with supporters Gloria Casarez, the city’s director of LGBT affairs (above, clockwise); center board co-chairs Emilie Carr and David Michelson; PGN publisher Mark Segal; Lee Chudzinski from Allied Construction Services; state Sen. Larry Farnese (D-1st Dist.); attorney Janelle Fulton; state Rep. Babette Josephs (D-182nd Dist.); and state Sen. Christine Tartaglione (D-Second Dist.). The fundraiser drew a crowd of about 125 and raised more than $10,500. Goldenburg said proceeds from the event will go to support the construction of the elevator. Photo: Scott A. Drake

With only four days to go until this weekend’s Pride parade, organizers of the event were still unsure if the parade would be held as scheduled. Philly Pride Presents, which stages the annual Pride celebration, was notiﬁed earlier this month — less than two weeks before the event — that it would have to pay the city $20,200 for police presence at Sunday’s parade, a service the city has always provided free of charge for community events such as Pride, but has since revoked in light of the city’s budget crisis. The organization applied for its permits in March, but was notiﬁed by e-mail June 3 that it would not receive the permit for the parade until it paid the police fee. In a meeting Wednesday, Pride representatives agreed to shorten the parade route in order to get the price tag cut in half. “We had to talk to the city to see how we could still make this parade happen, because the original price was outrageous and we couldn’t afford it, especially at

Court rejects challenge to military ban

See MILITARY, Page 20

See PARADE, Page 32

Marriage-equality bill introduced in PA Senate By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer

By Lara Jakes The Associated Press The Supreme Court on Monday agreed with the Obama administration and upheld Pentagon policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The court said it will not hear an appeal from former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II, who was dismissed under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The federal appeals court in Boston earlier threw out a lawsuit ﬁled by Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans. He was the only member of that group who asked the high court to rule that the Clinton-era policy is unconstitutional. During last year’s campaign, President Barack Obama indicated he supported the eventual repeal of the policy, but he has made no

the last minute,” said Philly Pride Presents executive director Franny Price. Price, Philly Pride Presents senior advisor Chuck Volz and the agency’s attorney, as well as president of the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus Tami Sortman and chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission Stephen Glassman, met with city deputy managing director Jazelle Jones, managing director chief of staff Steve Kennebeck, city representative Erica Atwood and two police officers to discuss the fee. Price said the initial $20,000-plus charge would have paid for 40 police officers and several lieutenants to direct traffic and control the crowds. She said she didn’t feel this number of officers was necessary for the 1.5-mile parade, which lasts between one-and-a-half and two hours, but negotiated with the city officials to shorten the route, and thus lessen the number of officers needed, to lower the cost. There will now be 25 officers present during the parade, which will kick off as planned from 13th and

2ND CELEBRATION OF CULTURE: The second-annual Latino Pride Festival June 6 drew more than 2,500 LGBT and ally individuals to North Philadelphia, a 25-percent increase in attendance from last year’s inaugural festival. The event, which had a special emphasis on raising awareness of breast and prostate cancer, brought together leaders such as keynote speaker Gloria Casarez, the city’s director of LGBT affairs; state Reps. Tony Payton (D-179th Dist.) and Curtis Thomas (D-181st Dist.); City Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez (D-7th Dist.); and Common Pleas Judge Angeles Roca. Brenda Torres, who organized the festival with her partner Iris Melendez — both of whom co-own LGBT nightclub Rainbow Eye at 1449 N. Fifth St. — called the event “very, very, very successful. It was very festive, very fun.” Next year’s Latino Pride Festival is set for June 5. Photo: Scott A. Drake

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

See page 10

State Sen. Daylin Leach (D-17th Dist.) introduced a bill last week to legalize same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. Senate Bill 935 was introduced June 5 and referred to the Judiciary Committee. The bill would repeal the ban on same-sex marriage that the legislature approved in 1996, and would amend the definition of marriage in Title 23 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to read as “a civil contract between two people who enter into matrimony.” The law currently defines marriage as “a civil contract by which one man and one woman take each other for husband and wife.” The legislation further clarifies that the adoption of marriage equality should not be “construed to compel a religious sect to perform same-sex marriage” and

proposes that all marriages legally performed outside of Pennsylvania should be considered legal in the state. Leach said he’s realistic that the bill will face tough opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate, but that he’s trying to look further down the road. “Short-term, it’s going to be a very tough ﬁght, but in the long term, it’s inevitable. My goal right now is to speed up the day when there’s marriage equality in Pennsylvania,” Leach said. “It’s going to happen for so many reasons eventually, and my goal this year is to get the conversation started, maybe have some hearings on the bill. Public support for marriage equality is growing in part due to people’s exposure to the idea, so that’s what we’re trying to do now — get people exposed to it, and if they have some discomfort they can work through it. Right now, I want to accelerate what I consider See MARRIAGE, Page 32

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

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PHILADELPHIA NEWS PHILADELPHIA GAY GAY NEWS

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News Editorial 10 International News 26 11 Mark My Words 7 Media Trail 5 News Briefing 7 National News Op-Ed 11 5 Regional News 11 Street Talk

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

June is AIDS Education Month

An end to the daily grind

Fairmount Park was the site of this year’s AIDS Education Month Cookout Kickoff, aimed at increasing awareness of HIV/ AIDS prevention and testing.

A supposedly routine IRS small-business audit destroys a local coffee shop, says the owner.

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Detour Comics Dining Guide Diversions Gayborhood Map Hot Spots Meeting Place Portraits Q Puzzle Scene In Philly Worth Watching

Classifieds Directories

mark@epgn.com

Editor Sarah Blazucki (ext. 206) sarah@epgn.com Art Director Christopher Potter design@epgn.com

50 66 74 64 65 76 51 50 49 73

Staff Writers Jen Colletta (ext. 215) jen@epgn.com Larry Nichols (ext. 213) larry@epgn.com Writer-at-Large Timothy Cwiek (ext. 208)

Alec Mapa

From ﬁlm to television to the stage and now live at Penn’s Landing, Mapa talks about comedy in general. Page 35

Professional Portraits: Joseph Matthews 3d

A unique breed

Queer punk artist Lynn Breedlove talks about knives, buckets and fatherhood.

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Columns Adoption Corner CD Releases DVDs Food Reviews Ms. Behavior

Publisher

Mark Segal (ext. 204)

Photographer/Graphic Artist Scott A. Drake (ext. 216) scott@epgn.com Advertising Manager Greg Dennis (ext. 201) greg@epgn.com Advertising Sales Representatives Morgan Levine (ext. 212) morgan@epgn.com

12 42 57 66 45

79 88

Graphic Artist Sean Dorn (ext. 211) sean@epgn.com

Kelly Root (ext. 207) kelly@epgn.com

CDs

DVDs

PGLTF

Peaches, Tori Amos, Trio B.C. and The Sounds

“Lesbian Nation”

Junior Vasquez and the next big thing

Kathy Grifﬁn begins her ﬁfth year on the “D-List”

“Bare: A Pop Opera”

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What is your favorite part of Philly Pride? Poll results from our online survey as of June 10:

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6% The parade 8% The festival entertainment 40% The masses of LGBT people in a public place 0% The next day off 6% The after-parties 40% All of the above

Go to www.philagaynews.com to weigh in on this week’s question:

Adoption Corner: Trevor and Oscar

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How many Pride festivals do you attend each year?

National Advertising Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Office Manager/Classifieds Don Pignolet (ext. 200) don@epgn.com Executive Assistant Credit/Billing Manager Carol Giunta (ext. 202) carol@epgn.com Philadelphia Gay News is a member of: The Associated Press National Gay Newspaper Guild Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Published by Masco Communications Inc. © 2009 Masco Communications Inc. ISSN-0742-5155

The views of PGN are expressed only in the unsigned “Editorial” column. Opinions expressed in bylined columns, stories and letters to the editor are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of PGN. The appearance of names or pictorial representations in PGN does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation of that named or pictured person or persons.

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

Taking Pride By Gary M. Kramer PGN Contributor The local LGBT community has much pride to celebrate Sunday at the annual Pride Parade and Festival. The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection has worked hard at creating an open, inclusive community for queer individuals. Yet as we publicly commemorate our achievements and honor ourselves, there is still discrimination and intolerance for LGBT folks locally and nationally. Laws prohibit gay marriage and civil unions in Pennsylvania. Hate crimes and homophobia pervade our society. And coming out can still be met with disapproval. PGN recently polled 15 Philadelphia LGBT notables about their thoughts on pride and shame, asking them, “What makes you proud? How can we combat shame and battle discrimination? And how are you going to celebrate Pride?” For many survey respondents, pride means living honestly and openly. “Pride to me is when you feel comfortable with expressing and celebrating all of the identities that comprise who you are,” says Lee Carson, president of the Black Gay Men’s Leadership Council in Philadelphia. Taking this point a step further, Carrie Jacobs, executive director of The Attic Youth Center, says, “It’s the evolution of moving from stigma to afﬁrmation,” acknowledging how, historically, the LGBT community has long struggled for acceptance, equality and

inclusion. Says R. Perry Monastero, executive director of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund, “I am full of wonder about how far we have come since the Annual Reminders from 1965-69 here in Philly, or the Stonewall Revolution of 1969.” Monastero appreciates the collaborative movement this community and its pioneers have had in battling adversity. “Almost all of us are more resilient and stronger as a result,” he says. Ed Hermance, owner of Giovanni’s Room, also understands the community’s long struggle for acceptance. “For people like us, pride is recognizing the strength of our love and doing our best to help younger generations realize their strength sooner than we could,” he says. Paul Steinke, general manager of Reading Terminal Market, is grateful for “the political and social gains our community has achieved over the past several decades.” Tami Sortman, president of the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus, says she is proud of the “permanent gay signage that hangs in the Gayborhood” — affirming to both residents and visitors that Philadelphia is a gay-friendly city — and that the mayor appointed a gay liaison to his office. Similarly, Jacobs says she is pleased with the “tremendous work of many groups and individuals to make Philadelphia a safer, more welcoming and affirming environment for LGBT people.” Robert Drake, hate-crime survivor,

and Lambda Award-winning co-editor of “Indivisible,” is proud of “being a part of our community’s response to AIDS,” and Philadelphians’ “quick acceptance of safersex behavior to reduce the transmission of HIV.” Jeffrey D. Shablin, president of Optimal Sport Health Club, adds that he is “proud Philadelphia has the Mazzoni Center, one of the best LGBT health centers in the nation, and one that holds the standards for others to follow.” Yet many individuals find pride in their own authenticity. For bisexual filmmaker Austin Kage, pride can be found “walking down the street with my boyfriend in my arms, unafraid of any homophobic cat-calling or abuse, and seeing other LGBT couples doing likewise.” He claims this act gives him “a sense of belonging and acceptance.” Soda Nobuhle, founder of The Womyn’s Village and co-founder of LGBT People of Color Coalition, is proud of “holding myself accountable for modeling a style of leadership that exposes the fraudulent constructions of race, ethnicity, spirituality, gender and class,” suggesting that role models are empowered, and set positive examples and strengthen our community. However, some folks have had to fight for acceptance and find pride in their and others’ accomplishments. Filmmaker Robert Gaston came out to his family as See TAKING PRIDE, Page 6

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News Briefing Local youth to gather for LGBT prom The Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative and The Attic Youth Center will stage the 14th annual Alternative Prom for LGBT and ally youth from 8 p.m.-midnight June 12 at the Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad St. This year’s event is themed “Twilight: A Moonlit Masquerade,” and guests are encouraged to wear masks. Carrie Jacobs, executive director of The Attic, noted the event allows youth to experience a typical high-school milestone while still being themselves. “When school proms are happening, these kids sometimes take opposite-sex dates to feel safer or more comfortable, but it’s an entirely different experience being able to go to this prom, where you can meet someone or can bring your own partner,” Jacobs said. “It’s great to see the enthusiasm that they have talking about the upcoming prom.” Tickets can be purchased at door for $15. For more information, contact Samantha Martinez at (215) 851-1822 or samim@galaei.org.

Jersey group to host beach party Be Visible, a New Jersey LGBT social group, will host its second-annual beach party from 1-5 p.m. June 13 in front of Atlantic City’s Hilton Casino, near Providence Avenue. Participants should bring their own chairs, food and drinks and plenty of sunscreen. After the party, the group will head to the Westside Bar, 501 N. Arkansas Ave., for a happy hour until 9 p.m. that includes $2 off all beers and well drinks. For more information, visit http:// groups.yahoo.com/group/Be_Visible/.

Go ‘Red’ with COLOURS

DAN ANDERS (CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT), LEE CARSON, ROBERT DRAKE, ROBERT DRAKE, ROBERT GASTON, TIONA MCCLODDEN, AUSTIN KAGE, CARRIE JACOBS, MATTHEW IZZO AND ED HERMANCE

Entertainment company Simply Christopher will join forces with The COLOURS Organization Inc. for a Fourth of July fundraising event that’s sure to have you seeing red. “RED,” from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. at 941 Theater, 941 N. Front St., will feature an open bar, hors d’oeuvres, live entertainment and door prizes, with all proceeds beneﬁting COLOURS and Philadelphia Black Gay Pride. Guests are encouraged to wear red attire. See NEWS BRIEFING, Page 33

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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TAKING PRIDE From Page 5 a teenager, and recounts, “it was not a pretty scene.” He beams with pride over the changes his family has made since then. “Their outlook and involvement with the LGBT community is my [greatest] reward, especially with my once-homophobic mother now counseling other parents at her church, and guiding them through the process of acceptance and appreciation of their LGBT children.” Robert Drake, producer and host at WXPN, believes that as proud as the LGBT community may be, residents shouldn’t get

“too proud,” noting “there is always room for improvement. As important as it is to learn about and celebrate our history and the advancements we’ve made, there is plenty of work still to be done.” He suggests one way to do this is by strengthening the bond “between you and your circle of family and friends” to generate a stronger army of supporters. Monastero concurs. “We need the effective engagement of more straight or heterosexual involvement in our causes. With support from more non-LGBT people, we can go so much farther and faster.” Common Pleas Court Judge Dan Anders agrees, saying, “It

is important to recognize that we are all agents of change. Whether it is coming out to coworkers or lobbying for civil-rights legislation, we can each do our part to eliminate discrimination from our society.” Nevertheless, shame remains an issue in our community. Hermance advocates coming out. Jacobs says that shame is “an internal battle” and that folks should seek support. And author Drake urges folks to “demand dignity and respect.” He insists, “We are not separate from the mainstream: We are the mainstream.” “The best way to combat shame is to not allow someone to shame you,” says Carson.

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

“Empower[ing] those within our community [gives] us power over how we allow those things to affect us.” Likewise, local merchant Matthew Izzo suggests that people should “just rise above [shame] and live freely.” Tiona McClodden, director of the documentary “black./ womyn.” believes the same and that discrimination should be dealt with “through education and digniﬁed reactions to those who oppose who we are” to reduce negative stereotypes. She uses her work to “shed some light on [LGBT] experiences.” Nobuhle battles shame with pride, “by examining, honoring

and sustaining the efforts of those who stood before us and those who will stand after,” she says. Kage has another idea. He recommends that people participate in Pride events. “It can lift everyone’s spirit and inspire conﬁdence and pleasure.” And many of the interviewees will be attending this year’s celebration. Izzo is having a party and invites everyone to come. Jacobs and Anders will be marching in the parade, which Sortman will be judging. While DJ Robert Drake didn’t specify how he will spend Sunday, he shares this thought, “Every day is Pride Day — as long as you’re proud of yourself.” ■

PERRY MONASTERO (FROM LEFT), SODA NOBUHLE, JEFFREY SHABLIN, TAMI SORTMAN AND PAUL STEINKE

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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Media Trail

Radio DJs to apologize for transphobia

FUN, FOOD AND FELLOWSHIP: A cookout June 6 in Fairmount Park, organized by Philadelphia FIGHT to recognize the start of the group’s AIDS Education Month, drew supporters such as Youth Health Empowerment Project volunteers Morgan Richards (clockwise, from back row, left) and Gary Williams; cookout volunteer Edward Lowry; AIDS Library reference librarian Ben Remsen; AmeriCorps volunteers Maria Cruz and Nancy Hunnarson; FIGHT counselor and tester Waheedah Shabazz-El; and cookout attendee Phozia Shama. The cookout featured food, music, games, giveaways and myriad information about local HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts. Photo: Scott A. Drake

New Hampshire OKs marriage equality By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer New Hampshire became the sixth state in the nation last week to legalize samesex marriage, after its legislature agreed to expand religious protections contained within the marriage-equality bill. Gov. John Lynch (D) signed the marriage-equality legislation less than two hours after the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted 198-176 in favor of it June 3; the Senate approved the bill 14-10 earlier in the day, with all Democrats voting for the legislation and all Republicans opposed. Both the House and Senate approved marriage-equality legislation last month, but Lynch said he would veto the bill if legislators did not amend it to allow for increased religious exemptions. Lynch called for language that would clarify that any religiously afﬁliated organization, not just churches, would be exempt from participating in a same-sex wedding ceremony. The Senate approved the amendments May 20, but the next day the House narrowly rejected them, sending the legislation to a joint committee. Last week the committee agreed to language that further clariﬁes that religious organizations in the state have “exclusive control over [their] own religious doctrine,

policy, teachings and beliefs regarding who may marry within their faith.” Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said that expanded religious protections in the bill spelled out that same-sex couples want access to civil, not religious, marriage. “No religious institution will have to recognize any marriage under this law, as the language proposed by Gov. Lynch and agreed to by the legislature made abundantly clear,” he said. “With Gov. Lynch signing legislation passed by the state Senate and House, New Hampshire has become the latest state to recognize that loving, committed couples and their families should receive equality, dignity and respect under the law.” Lynch said his support of marriage equality stemmed from the many “compelling arguments” he’s heard from same-sex couples that the state’s civilunion law, in effect since 2007, provides for a “separate system [that] is not an equal system.” “Today, we are standing up for the liberties of same-sex couples by making clear that they will receive the same rights, responsibilities — and respect — under New Hampshire law,” Lynch said in a statement after signing the bill. “Today, we are also standing up for religious liberties. This legislation makes clear that we understand that certain faiths do

not recognize same-sex marriage, and it protects them from having to participate in marriage-related activities that violate their fundamental religious principles. With the signing of this legislation today, New Hampshire will have taken every action possible to ensure that all families have equal rights to the extent that is possible under state law.” In his statement, Lynch also called on the federal government to follow suit and offer same-sex couples federal relationship recognition. Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, noted that New Hampshire’s action reﬂects shifting American attitudes in favor of same-sex marriage. “As people get to know the loving and committed couples at the heart of marriage equality, our culture is moving to equality,” he said. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2004 in Massachusetts, and in the past year, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa and Maine have also legalized such unions. Same-sex marriage was legal for several months in 2008 in California, before the passage of Proposition 8 last fall. New Hampshire’s marriage-equality law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2010. ■

Advocate.com reports KRXQ radio in Sacramento, Calif., has agreed to welcome a transgender person and the parent of a transgender youth as on-air guests after the hosts of a morning show made transphobic remarks. Arnie States and Rob Williams of the “Rob, Arnie & Dawn Show” are scheduled to apologize on June 11. On May 28, the hosts were discussing a boy in Omaha who wants to transition from male to female. Williams called transgender people “freaks,” asserting that therapy could steer them away from being transgender. States also said that if his son put on a pair of high heels, he would probably hit him with one of his shoes. In response to the incident, 11 advertisers pulled their ads from the station, including AT&T, Bank of America, Chipotle, Guitar Center, McDonald’s, Nissan, Snapple, Sonic, Verizon and Wells Fargo.

Schools unblock gay Web sites Tennessean.com reports Metro Nashville schools have lifted their filter on gay-themed Web sites two weeks after the ACLU filed suit over the issue. The blocked sites included PFLAG, GLADD, GLSEN and HRC. In mid-April, the ACLU sent a letter to the Metro and Knox County school districts asking them to adjust Internet search-filtering software so that such sites would be accessible. The filtering software always gave students access to ministries that aim to change sexual orientation. The ACLU’s suit claimed viewpoint discrimination.

Gay marriage ‘legal’ in video game The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports the makers of “The Sims” have allowed gay marriage in the newest version. Lyle Masaki at AfterElton.com noted that in the game’s ﬁrst release, same-sex couples could move in together. “The Sims 2” allowed gay couples to be “joined.” “So when I bought my copy of the latest Sims game, I wanted to ﬁnd out if gay couples had taken another step forward and now had the ability to get married like any other couple,” he said. “And after a week of game time, I was able to get a male couple to plan a wedding party and tie the knot.” ■

Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn. com.

— Larry Nichols

Online. Anytime.

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0663 ext. 242. AIDS Services in Asian Communities’ weekly volunteer work group will meet from 6-8 p.m. at PHILADELPHIA 1201 Chestnut St., Suite 501; GAY NEWS (215) 563-2424 ext. 10. � Coming Out, a support group for gay, bisexual or questioning men, will meet from 6-7:30 p.m. at AIDS Delaware, Suite 315, 100 W. 10th St., Wilmington; (800) 292-0429. � A gay-friendly Scrabble Club will meet from 6-11 p.m. in the P.I.C. Building, 42nd and Locust streets; (215) 382-0789. By Jen Colletta � The LGBT Discussion Group will PGN Staff Writer meet from 6-8 p.m. at the United Church of Christ, 300 E. Main St., The Judiciary Committee Newark, Del.; (800) 292-0429.of the U.S. Senate held a hearing June 3 � A meeting/activity night will on American be the heldUniting for gay, lesbian, Families bisexual, Act, gathering testimony transgender and formal questioning youth for timefrom from6-8LGBT and the theirﬁrst friends p.m. individuals who’ve beenofimpacted at the Rainbow Room Planned Parenthood in Doylestown; (215) by the country’s immigration 348-0558 ext. 65. laws. � A men’s support for those UAFA would group amend the with HIV/AIDSand will Nationality meet from Immigration 6-7:30 Mercer citizens County Act to p.m. allow atAmerican Area Early Intervention Services in same-sex relationships with in Trenton, N.J. For location, call �

at 986 S. Broad St., Trenton, N.J.; (609) 638-7264. � The Women’s Center of Montgomery County’s lesbian support group will meet from 79 p.m. at 101 Washington Lane, Jenkintown; (215) 885-8440. � A men’s coming-out group will meet at 7:30 p.m. at The Pride Center of New Jersey. � Survivors of Suicide Inc. Chester County, a support group, will meet at 7:30 p.m. at Paoli Memorial Hospital, Willistown Room, Medicalthis Ofexchange, ce Building,committee Lancaster during Pike, Paoli; (215) member Sen. Jeff545-2242; Sessions Web (Rsite: phillysostripod.com. Ala.) grumbled, “Enough with the � Under the Rainbow, a discussion histrionics.” and socialtestifying group for 18-25-year-old Also was Gordon gays and lesbians, will who meet moved at 7:30 Stewart, an American p.m. The Pride Center New to theatUnited Kingdom to of be with Jersey. his Brazilian partner. � The Gay Married Men’s “I love mysupport country,group I love will my Association family, and I think it is unfair meet at 8 p.m. at the William Way that I have toCenter; choose between my Community (610) 626partner 2577. and my family and the country that I love,” Stewart said. � The steering committee of Team Leahy related to the committee Philadelphia, a gay sports league, will the meet at 8 p.m. at the William that situation faced by Stewart WayTan Community Center. and is one that has played out

United Methodist Church, Broad and Arch streets; call Zak, (215) 848-4380, or Paul, (215) 307-0347. � The Men’s Peer Support Group JUNE 12 - 18, 2009 will meet for topical discussion at 7 p.m. at The Pride Center of New Jersey. � Rainbow Adult Children of Alcoholics and Alcoholics Anonymous will hold a 12-step meeting at 7 p.m. at Limestone Presbyterian Church, 3201 Limestone Road, Wilmington, Del.; (302) 456-9129. � The Humboldt gay and would a be too argued that it Society, lesbian naturalist club, will meet difﬁcult to distinguish between at 7:30 p.m. at the William Way credible same-sex relationships Community Center. and individuals who would take � Sex and Love Anonymous, advantage of Addicts the law to gain aentrance 12-step program, will to the country.meet at 7:30 p.m. at All Saints Church, 18 Olive Christopher Nugent, co-chair of Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del.; (302) the American Bar Association’s 542-3279. immigration committee, refuted � The Women’s Peer Support Group those claims — long will meet at 7:30 which p.m. athave The Pride been opponents of the Centerechoed of Newby Jersey. bill — detailing the requirements � The Bisexual/Gay/Lesbian needed to qualify “permanent Alliance at Rutgersfor University will partnerships,” such as ﬁnancial meet at 9:30 p.m. in Murray Hall, Room 211, 13 Georgeexclusivity, St., New interdependence, � Brunswick, of N.J.; a(732) 932-1306. absence close blood

U.S. Senate holds historic immigration hearing

people living in other countries to sponsor their partners for immigration to the United States, a policy currently reserved only for heterosexual married couples. The legislation has been introduced in Congress in every session since 2000, but has never been voted out of committee and never been considered in a committee hearing. Testifying at the hearing in favor of the bill were individuals such as Shirley Tan, whose family’s struggle against U.S. immigration laws has made international headlines. Tan, a native of the Philippines, currently lives in California with her partner of 23 years and their twin 12-year-old sons, but is facing deportation if UAFA does not pass. California’s legislature passed stand-alone legislation in April granting Tan a temporary stay in the United States until the end of the current Congressional session. Tan related her story to the committee, describing how immigration ofﬁcials came to her home in January to present her with a deportation letter and summarily handcuffed her and took her away. One of Tan’s sons became emotional during his mother’s testimony, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Va.), chair of the committee and prime sponsor of the bill, told the boy that his “mother is a very brave woman” and that he “should be very proud of her.” The Advocate reported that

countless times in the country. “For too long, gay- and lesbianAmerican citizens whose partners are foreign nationals have been denied the ability to sponsor their loved ones for lawful permanent residency,” Leahy said. “Under current immigration law, many citizens have been forced to choose between their country and their loved ones. No American should face that choice.” Immigration Equality, which works for equal rights for LGBT individuals in U.S. immigration laws, estimates there are about 36,000 same-sex bi-national couples who are struggling with that decision. Julian Bond, chairman of the board of directors of the NAACP, noted the Immigration and Nationality Act needs to be updated to account for evolving notions of the term “family.” “For the most part, our nation’s current immigration laws promote family unity,” he said, noting, however, that “the deﬁnition of ‘family’ should not be interpreted so stringently as to omit people who are in loving, committed relationships but happen to be of the same gender.” Testifying against the bill were Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, an organization that opposes the expansion of immigration in order to control population growth, and Jennifer Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. Vaughan

PGN

relationship and the intent to remain in a life-long commitment with one another; and the penalties, including ﬁnes and jail time, if fraud is discovered. Leahy introduced UAFA in February and the bill currently has 19 cosponsors. The House version, introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), has 105 cosponsors, including local Reps. Michael Doyle (D-14th Dist.) and Chaka Fattah (D-Second Dist.). U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D-First Dist.) also signed on to the bill this week. Nadler, along with committeemembers Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), voiced their support for UAFA during the hearing. Leahy, Schumer, Specter and Sessions were the only committemembers, out of 19, who attended the hearing. In an interview with the Washington Blade last month, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is openly gay, postured that LGBT activists “don’t have a shot” at passing UAFA this session, asserting that there aren’t enough votes to favor the bill as stand-alone legislation. Also this week, U.S. Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.) introduced the Reuniting Families Act, a broader immigration-reform bill that includes UAFA. ■ Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.

Gay is our middle name.

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

Former COLOURS director Triangle Medical General Practice pleads guilty to theft By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer The former head of a local LGBT organization pleaded guilty last week to stealing money from the group. Dorena Kearney, former executive director of The COLOURS Organization Inc., which provides services to LGBT people of color, pleaded guilty in federal district court June 4 to taking more than $138,700 from the group for personal use. MARCH 21 - 27, 2008 Kearney, 45, served as executive director COLOURS that the mayor of theofAthens suburb from 2001-07. of Kessariani has agreed to perform interim theMichael ceremony. Hinson, executive director of “I have no objection to celebrating COLOURS, said members of this union so long as the law is the organization’s board of respected,” Mayor Spyros Tzokas directors initially uncovered the said. misappropriation. It is uncertain whether the government recognize the “This was will something that was marriage. by the board, and the discovered The took Greek is board actiongovernment to bring this preparing to introduce civilto the attention of the proper partnership legislation later this year, authorities, who we knew needed granting legal rights to unmarried to know about this,” Hinson couples. But, it has not said if samesex couples would be included.

said. He said Kearney had stepped down as executive director before the board made its discovery. “She was not in the ofﬁce at the time when these things were discovered, and that’s how they got discovered,” he said. “She was still actively involved with the agency, but she just wasn’t in the ofﬁce. By the time we actually knew that this was something that was really beyond our control, in terms of it being something we had to go outside and seek additional help on, she had already a leave of Human Rightsbeen and on Human Rights absence.” Watch are petitioning the Moroccan Accordingfor to acourt government fair documents, trial for the Kearney fourtheir credit-card men and opened to protect right to accounts in both her name and privacy. in The the groups name of and, areCOLOURS asking supporters between 2004-07, used to show theirJune opposition to Moroccan the accounts to fund authorities by sending an personal e-mail to petitionmaroc@hrw.org. expenses. Kearney used the money to buy such items as groceries, cableCartoons draw TV service, furniture, pet food, clothing, shoes, jewelry and legal Russian fees as well as onire cruises and for Protestant groups in Moscow are trying to shut down a cartoon channel because they claim it promotes homosexuality and religious intolerance. backing gay vets too,” Dennen Channel 2x2 broadcasts Western said. cartoons like “South Park,” which He believe addedpromotes the groups will some “homosexual also use their status as veterans propaganda.” to Vitaly bringVlasenki, recognition to such a spokesperson issues as the repeal of “Don’t for The Consultative Council of Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s the Heads of Protestant Churches policy openly gay in Russia,banning said the group had sent servicemembers, well Yury as a letter to ProsecutorasGeneral marriage —accusing issues that Chaika onequality March 12 the impact individuals“cruelty, during networkLGBT of promoting violence, homosexual propaganda, and after military service. religious hatred‘Don’t and intolerance.” “We say, Ask, Don’t Yekaterina Doglosheveva, Tell,’ no; gay marriage, head yes. of corporate Prof-Media, We can’t affairs just for cover ‘Don’t dismissed criticism fromthat’s the Ask, Don’ttheTell’ because religious just group. relative to when someone’s Federal Culture and in “The the service, but we also look Cinematography Agency may be at what happens when you leave able to control the activities of our the service,” Dennen said. “Some channel, but the Protestants cannot,” vets are openly gay and others Doglosheveva said. keep their mouths aboutalso it, Channel 2x2, shut which but either way we need marriage broadcasts “The Simpsons,” has

cosmetic surgery. “There’s no excuse for her conduct,” said Kearney’s attorney, Joseph Capone. “However, she is very remorseful and contrite.” Kearney was released on $50,000 bail. U.S. District Judge Anita Brody scheduled her sentencing for Oct. 12. She could face up to 18 months in prison. Brody also ordered Kearney to undergo mental-health treatment and barred her from traveling outside of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS The City Inspector General’s ofﬁce Federalin Bureau built a and cult the following Russia of Investigation headed despite gaining just 1.9 percentthe of investigation intoinKearney. the audience share February. The FBI played a role MTV in Russia alsoin the investigation because COLOURS shows “South Park,” but has yet receives federal funding, to receive any criticism from the in addition togroup. city money. Protestant Inspector General Amy Kurland said she could not Trans comment onmeeting whether or not the investigation was ongoing. set for “She’s beenBerlin charged, and that’s really all I can say right now,” It was announced March 14 that Kurland said. ■ the second meeting of the European Transgender Council will be held this year in Germany. The council, comprised of Transgender Europe, the Transgender Network Berlin and demonstrating for the same TransInterQueer Berlin, will meet causes Dennen outlined. May 2-4 in Berlin. Their last event The member was held local in Vienna in 2005. doesn’t know exactly how of his Representatives frommany international fellow groups vets will participate activist and experts such in as the parade, encountered Human Rightshe’s Watch and Amnestya positive response. International are expected to attend been getting all kinds the“I’ve event and share their experiences of the e-mails. It’shuman spreading eld of rights like and in wildﬁre. We’re very transgender-related work.organized and have beenof getting the of word The results the Study the Lives peoplehow In out toofletTransgender people know Europe, conducted historic of an eventbythisPress will for be Change (U.K.), will be revealed, for Philadelphia.” which polled than 2,000 Dennen said more his organization’s transgender people. involvement in the parade will Berlin has aneeded diversevisibility transgender help provide to scene, and Wigstoeckel Transgender the gay-veteran community. United is set like to organize “It seems there’s athelotcity of council’s ofcial show and party for silence with gay veterans who the event. �

Progressive HIV Care MARK T. WATKINS, DO JOHN DEL ROSSI, PA-C

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Vets in Pride parade Gay men to jailedmarch in By Jen Colletta Morocco PGN Staff Writer The Moroccan Association for Members of along local with chapters of Human Rights, Human Veterans for Peace, a nationala Rights Watch, has launched anti-war organization that also petition following the imprisonment works forforexpanded rights for of six men homosexuality. veterans, the Moroccanwill policemarch arrestedfor the men ﬁrst time in Philadelphi’s in November 2007 after a Pride video parade. circulated on the Internet showing a VFP’s private Philadelphia party in Ksar-el-Kbir, and South Morocco, that the press claimed Jersey chapters, as well as was the a gay-marriage ceremony. Delaware Valley Veterans for The country’s penal code America, will join the dozens of criminalizes sexual conduct between other organizations represented members of annual the same sex. Despite in the 21st parade, which the factatthat theand video showed no begins 13th Locust streets evidence of sexual at noon June 14. acts, the six men were convicted of committing “lewd Robert Dennen, a member of or unnatural acts with an individual the Philadelphia VFP chapter, said of the same sex” and sentenced to the organizations’ between four and 10involvement months in has a multi-faceted purpose. prison. “Our main message is that we The Moroccan Association for

worked for the Constitution, let the Constitution work for us too; gay vets fought for our country and helped back our Constitution, so the Constitution needs to start

so we can all have equal beneﬁts just like other vets.” VFP chapters in New York City and California have also marched in local Pride parades,

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are afraid to speak out that they are vets and that gay, so Larry Nichols canthey’re be reached at it’s about time that we brought larry@epgn.com. this discussion out in the open.” ■

Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Editorial The cost of Pride This past week, the city’s budget crisis hit home for Philadelphia’s LGBT community. After years of receiving traffic and crowd control services without charge, like other parades and events, the city notified Philadelphia Pride Presents just how much the police were going to charge the organization for those services. Starting with the Pride Parade. Taking place June 14. Less than two weeks away when they were notified. Ever since the city announced its budget shortfalls last fall, and that it would be charging for event services, groups have been nervously waiting to hear what the impact would be and how it would affect them. Another event feeling the pain this week is Odunde, which is reportedly required to pay $85,000 for three days of police, fire and other services for its event on June 12-14, with a June 10 deadline to put down a $27,500 deposit. Other events that have had to face new costs — or actual funding cuts — include the Mummers Parade, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship. For many of the groups, raising tens of thousands of dollars, and in some cases more than $100,000, isn’t a quick and easy task. For instance, the Pride festival is Philly Pride Presents’ major fundraiser, covering the event itself, the parade and OutFest in October. Meaning, the group doesn’t have an extra $20 grand sitting in the bank the week before Pride. Frankly, the city has not been as forthcoming with cost information as it could — and should — be. Yes, this process is new for everyone, so all parties involved should be proactive in getting as much information as possible as early as possible. But if the city expects groups to raise thousands of dollars to pay for police and other services, the organizations need to know well in advance so they can plan how they will raise said funds. Likewise, the city needs to be highly transparent on how the costs are incurred — and how to minimize those costs. In the instance of Philly Pride, the city requested payment and a deposit before providing a cost breakdown for the services. From a position of financial responsibility, who in their right mind is going to hand over thousands of dollars without reviewing a contract and cost breakdown beforehand? By this point, more than six months after the city announced it would begin charging for event services, it should really have better communications processes in place. Establishing working partnerships with organizations is essential to putting on successful events — and the city should be doing all it can to cultivate those relationships. ■

Tell us what you think Send letters and opinion column submissions to: pgn@epgn.com; PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147; fax: (215) 925-6437. Please include a daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, style and space considerations.

Glenn Lash (glennlash@yahoo.com)

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT-rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many wellrespected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country’s response to the HIV pandemic. Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT-rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an administration. These individuals embody the best

qualities we seek in public servants, and across my administration — in both the White House and the federal agencies — openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism. The LGBT-rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect. My administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate-crimes laws, supporting civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights and ending the existing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to ﬁghting the HIV/ AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and

providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States. These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Now, therefore, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists. In witness thereof, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of American the two hundred and thirty-third. Barack Obama

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Mark My Words

Mark Segal

On companions, relatives and pride Gay Pride — not this year’s column. In a surprising move, my editor tells me she’s had people mention that I haven’t done a personal column in some time. So at her — or your — request, here goes. First and foremost, the dogs. As you might recall, I have not one but two Boston terriers: Moishe, the oldest and very large for a Boston, and Sadie, the youngest and small for a Boston. Moishe has glided into old age in relatively easy fashion. With each inﬁrmary, he seems to just take it in stride. His sight is almost gone and at night he has no vision. He climbs stairs a lot slower, but every morning he can’t wait to go to work. He thinks he’s a PGN staffer. And he still plays with Sadie. He’s a happy dog. As for Sadie, she has remained a puppy and will not tell her age, and she acts so. She becomes, it seems, more animated each day. She feels it’s her job to train the staff on where she feels comfortable and when to give her treats. For her part, she bosses Moishe around. As for my nephew, Jeff, you might recall he came to Philadelphia as a teen and set up domestic bliss in my home. Parenthood was new to me and, looking back, the pitfalls were actually funny. Going away

Op-Ed

for a weekend and coming home to an immaculately cleaned house — only to hear from neighbors that he had a party for 100 of his friends. Being smart, he cleaned the house and put the trash in public trashcans. To make a long story short, he went into the headhunter business and has done very well. Last year, he transferred up to New York City and has moved up the food chain of business. But, I still get the occasional problem phone call. He’s trying to talk me into coming up to NYC for Father’s Day so he can take me to dinner and a Broadway show. I’m proud of his progress. Jason, my boyfriend now of ﬁve years, still puts up with my high-maintenance life. He’s been back from Japan now for a year and, in light of the U.S. job market being in the toilet, is considering an offer to teach English in Japan once more. That would be another yearlong contract starting in the fall. As for me, well, this June 28 is of great importance. It’s Stonewall 40, and those of us involved with Gay Liberation Front, Gay Activists Alliance and Gay Youth have several panels and socials and historic events planned. Besides all that, my main task every day is to assure the happiness of the PGN staff and make sure we get out on deadline, like we have for 33 years now. Happy Gay Pride, all. ■ Mark Segal can be reached at mark@epgn.com.

PAGE 11

Street Talk What’s the value of Pride Month?

Raymond Gray sales representative Logan

Kiara Jones psychologist South Philadelphia

“Its value is getting society to change. And it’s working. More things are being accomplished each year. It’s not so much for self-validation — it’s for society to become more accepting.”

“It helps people with their self-esteem. It’s definitely worth the effort. The more pride events, the better. Just as long as you don’t get carried away and become arrogant. That’s not a good thing for anyone.”

Kat Nguyen student South Philadelphia

Vincent Tran student South Philadelphia

“Happy people showing their happiness to others. It reminds people not to be ashamed of themselves. It has to be done on an annual basis, like a New Year’s parade. You need that kind of maintenance, every year.”

“It’s just like any other celebration. It has value similar to that of a birthday party. But maybe they could scale it back to every other year. Then, it wouldn’t fall into a rut. There would be more anticipation and excitement.”

Nancy Wohlforth

Why LGBTs should care about unions Workers’ rights on the job? The freedom to organize into unions? Is this an issue for LGBT people? It sure is. Says who? Well, Ricardo Bostic, for one. A retired lab and storeroom manager at Temple University, Ricardo knows exactly what it’s like to enjoy strong protection against sexual-orientation discrimination on the job. It started for him as far back as 1979. It wasn’t because of any law in Philadelphia (which arrived years later) or Harrisburg or Washington (which has still never arrived). It was because of Ricardo’s union contract. He’s been in a loving relationship with his partner, Le-Mont Johnson, for 44 years. Yet they can’t get married in Pennsylvania. They can’t even enter into a civil union. But there’s an institution that’s honored and recognized them as domestic partners, not only with symbolism but by offering full health-insurance beneﬁts. It’s the

union contract. What Ricardo and Le-Mont have experienced, my partner Denice and I have experienced. For us, the union movement has made all the difference in the world. And we’re not alone. In every neighborhood in the Philadelphia area, there are LGBT workers — black and brown and white, young and old, single and partnered — who are quietly building better, more secure lives through their unions. Union members have median wages 30-percent higher than workers who don’t have a union card in their wallet. And with a union, you’re much more likely to have decent health-insurance beneﬁts and a guaranteed pension. That’s true for all workers. But what about LGBT workers? Do we need a union as much as others? No. We need it more. Far too often, we’re the ﬁrst to be discriminated against and harassed by management, so

no one needs a voice in the workplace more than we do. You’d think that most workers, LGBT and straight, would want to be in a union. You’d be right. A Peter Hart survey indicates that more than half of American workers would be in unions if they could choose it freely — yet only 12.4 percent of American workers are in unions now. So what gives? Something’s gone badly wrong in America. Today, you can express any opinion (or none) and worship (or not worship) any way you want. If you’re LGBT, you now have more freedom to live the way you want than ever before. But if you try to exercise your right to join a union, you’re in serious trouble. Sure, there’s the system under the National Labor Relations Board for organizing into unions. But over the years, it’s been deformed into a terrible See UNIONS, Page 20

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

PAGE 12

Adoption Corner Name: Trevor Breed: Gray and black tiger Age: 10 years Sex: Male (neutered) Health: Good, but overweight and needs to go on a diet Name: Oscar Breed: Black long-hair domestic Age: 7 years Sex: Male (neutered) Health: Good, but overweight and needs to go on a diet

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Scott A. Drake Other information: Trevor and Oscar will get microchips as part of the adoption agreement, so other shelters and veterinarians with microchip-reading equipment or the SPCA can identify them, and their shots are all up to date. History: Trevor and Oscar were surrendered together about three months ago and have been shuttled to several locations.

They arrived at PAWS almost six weeks ago. Oscar has some residual stress from moving around, but is coping better now. Trevor and Oscar have been together for many years, so they should be adopted together. Both cats are very good-natured and get along well with other cats. Trevor acts as the welcoming committee of the house while Oscar sometimes hides at first, emerging later when he gets more comfortable with strangers. Both of these guys love to have their heads scratched, and Oscar will tap you on the arm with his paw when you stop to encourage more attention. This sweet pair would love to have a new permanent home with someone who has too much affection for just one pet. Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month In May, PAWS celebrated its 1,000th adoption for 2009. This success was partly due to the strong support from the LGBT community. PAWS staffers frequently get requests for specific pets seen in this column and people often come in with the article in hand. A big thanks was given to the PGN readers who helped achieve this milestone. The fifth annual Chefs’ Dinner

TREVOR AND OSCAR

for PAWS will be held at 6 p.m. June 29 at the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, 201 S. Columbus Blvd. The fundraiser will feature the culinary talents of more than 30 regional chefs and some special guest chefs from around the country, including Terence Feury of Fork, Quincy Jones of Union Trust, Molly Hayes of Triumph Brewing Company, Robert D’Abreau of Sabrina’s Café and Guillermo Pernot of Cuba Libre. The proceeds will fund a new clinic to spay and neuter pets. Tickets can be purchased online

Karam Mounzer, M.D., Medical Director Angela Kapalko, MHS, PA-C Joseph Onderein, PA-C

at www.phillypaws.org or by calling (877) 254-1982 ext. 3. ■ The Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society is dedicated to promoting public welfare and to saving the lives of Philadelphia’s homeless, abandoned and unwanted animals and has a nokill policy. PAWS 100 N. Second St. (215) 238-9901 Monday–Saturday 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. www.phillypaws.org

Karen Goldstein, MD Sarah Smith, PA-C

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JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

PAGE 13

Gay minister to head NJ church By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer An LGBT-inclusive church in South Jersey will soon be headed by an openly gay minister, who has fused his passion for social justice with his religious calling. The Rev. Manish Mishra will take over as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church, 401 N. Kings Hwy., Cherry Hill, starting Sept. 1. Mishra is currently serving as the senior minister of the UU Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., a congregation he’s led for three years. Mishra, whose parents immigrated to the United States from India in the 1960s, grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Georgetown University, where he received a degree in international relations. The minister was raised in the Hindu faith and said that as an adolescent, he struggled to reconcile his religious upbringing with his developing sexuality. “I searched through scripture, hoping to ﬁnd some guidance or images or advice about what it meant to have this sexual identity that I had,” he said. “I looked toward prayer and toward fasting and almsgiving and good deeds — all of these things that are supposed to lead you to a good life — honestly as a way to curry favor from God and be cured of this thing that I didn’t want and that, at that point, I thought was truly negative.” When this didn’t happen, Mishra said he experienced a “crisis of faith” and abandoned his religious convictions. “Being Hindu and doing all of these good things didn’t have God take away these feelings that I had, and I know that I had been praying fervently for him or her or them to take them away, so I just determined that there mustn’t be a God,” he said. Mishra said that while he was at Georgetown, this struggle almost pushed him to suicide. “I was standing in the middle of Key Bridge, which is right across from Georgetown, and I stood there for over an hour seriously thinking I’d be better off dead than alive because I couldn’t make sense of this,” he said. Mishra eventually pulled himself back from that brink and came out at age 20. “For me, coming out was an

act of survival and a necessity. I couldn’t have continued living that way.” His acknowledgement that he was gay also signified what he thought was a needed separation from organized religion. After college, Mishra worked as a foreign-service officer in the U.S. Department of State under the Clinton administration, stationed in such countries as Oman and Finland, as well as in Washington, D.C. Mishra spent several years away from organized religion, but eventually felt the pull back to the sense of community that religion offers. “When I came out I decided, ‘I’ll be spiritual, but not religious.’ I figured that I didn’t need anything to confirm for me

whether I’m devout. But what I came to appreciate was that this spiritual-but-not-religious path can be very lonely; it’s kind of a loner path. You don’t have a community with which you share values or can celebrate holidays or life events, like births and marriages. I thought I wanted to have that again in my life, but I didn’t know how to do that or where to ﬁnd it.” Mishra related these feelings to a friend he met while stationed in Finland and who suggested he check out the Unitarian Universalist Church. That same weekend, Mishra and his thenpartner went to a worship service at a UU church in D.C. Mishra said he and his partner had two bottom lines when they attended the service: He wanted

to make sure the church was accepting and open to having openly gay congregants and his partner, a scientist, wanted to ensure that the minister wouldn’t be spouting any “supernatural mumbo jumbo.” The church passed the second criteria, but Mishra said his own prerequisite was tested during the service when visitors were given the chance to stand and introduce themselves. “I was so nervous, but I thought, ‘I’m going for broke, I’ve got nothing to lose. I may never see these people again.’ So my ex and I got up, and I said, ‘We’re a gay couple and we’re here to visit your church.’ I went out of my way to say that and I sat right down and there were all these older members of the community around us, and I thought, ‘Oh, they must all be

REV. MANISH MISHRA

staring at us thinking, Why are these guys in our church?’ I had this whole dialogue going on in my head, and I resolved that the moment the service was over, we were out the door. And we did start to make a beeline straight See MINISTER, Page 18

Fi r st Ba p t i st C h u r c h Sunday, June 14: The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene presents, “Mama’s Lokshn Kugel,” a traveling Yiddish revue featuring classic songs and sketches, 3:00 PM; $10/person, payable at the door, Teller Auditorium at Rodeph Shalom. Supertitles will be projected during the performance--no knowledge of Yiddish required. Please reserve by calling BA at 215-923-2003 and leaving your name and phone number on our voicemail. Friday, June 19: BA Shabbat service, 8:00 PM. Please join us for a rabbi-led BA service, followed by the oneg. Beth Ahavah and Rodeph Shalom are afﬁliated in spirit and share a sacred home. In July 2007 Beth Ahavah afﬁliated with Rodeph Shalom. Beth Ahavah retains its congregational status within the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and proudly offers its congregation dual membership at both synagogues.

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www.fbcphila1698.org

A Loving Family of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Catholics & our allies invites you to celebrate

Dignity Philadelphia has been celebrating Pride for the past 36 years. Visit our table at the Festival and join us for mass Sunday at 7 p.m. at St. Luke and The Epiphany Church 330 S. 13th St., Philadelphia (between Spruce and Pine streets)

Communion in the form of bread, gluten-free on request, wine and grape juice.

On Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 1:30 p.m., the Memorial Mass for John “Scotty” Schott will be held in the upper church of St. Luke and The Epiphany. 215-546-2093

Visit us at www.dignityphila.org

All Are Welcome!

PAGE 14

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Philadelphia Gay News is pleased to announce our staff received eight awards in the 2009 Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation advertising contest.

PGN

Our congratulations to PGN’s graphic design staff: Chris Potter, Sean Dorn and Scott Drake

WINNER: New Media/Multi Media Piece “It only feels like an emergency” WINNER: Private Party Ad “Erotic dungeon master” First PLace: Ad Campaign/Multiple Products “Look at us a whole new way” First Place: Classied Section “It’s time to read the writing on the wall” First Place: Self Promotion Advertising “Detour” First Place: Special Section/Niche Publication “Gayborhood” First Place: Wildcard Category “Metrodate” Second Place: Classied Section “We’ve got your color”

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

PGN is pleased to announce our staff received three awards in the 2009 Keystone Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Spotlight Contest. Our congratulations to Victoria Brownworth First Place, Enterprise Story, Non-Daily “Hiding in Plain Sight” Mark Segal Second Place, Commentary, Non-Daily “Mark My Words” Scott A. Drake Honorable Mention, Feature Photo, Non-Daily “Gone but not Forgotten”

PAGE 15

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Locals ﬁght Old City development By Timothy Cwiek PGN Writer-at-Large

PGN

Read it here first.

Old City attorney Robert P. Tuerk has a deep appreciation of history — including LGBT history — and he views any new construction exceeding Old City’s 65-foot height limit as a hindrance to historic preservation. Tuerk went to court to block the construction of a nine-story building at 226 Arch St. that would exceed Old City’s height limit by 43.5 feet. But after a series of legal maneuverings, his legal challenge was declared moot last month by state Commonwealth Court. The building hasn’t been erected yet, and Tuerk said he remains committed to protecting the height limit by preventing its construction. “I’m considering all my legal options at my disposal,” he said. Old City is Philadelphia’s oldest neighborhood, located in the eastern section. Its boundaries are Callowhill to Walnut streets from the Delaware River to Fifth. The Liberty Bell is located in Old City, along with Independence Hall and the Betsy Ross House. In the mid-1960s, the country’s first LGBT-rights demonstrations also took place in Old City. A bronze plaque at Fifth and Chestnut marks the site where the demonstrations occurred. Issued by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, it’s the only LGBT-specific historical marker of its kind in Pennsylvania. “The first GLBT demonstrations happened in this neighborhood,” noted Tuerk. “I want to maintain

226 ARCH ST., PLANNED SITE OF NINE-STORY BUILDING Photo: Timothy Cwiek

a historic area in Old City that people want to come and see.” In April 2006, City Council enacted the 65-foot height limit for new structures in Old City. Tuerk said the ordinance helps retain the area’s 18th-century feel by discouraging mid- and high-rise buildings. But several developers want to exceed the height limit, including Michael Yaron, who wants to build the nine-story residence at 226 Arch. Yaron’s proposed building would replace a 75-vehicle parking lot currently on the site. Yaron couldn’t be reached for comment. Tuerk ﬁled suit to block Yaron’s building in May 2008. But last month, Tuerk’s lawsuit was dismissed by state Commonwealth Court after Yaron’s attorneys withdrew his request to uphold a city Zoning Board of Adjustment approval for the project, granted in April 2008.

Instead, Yaron will rely on a December 2006 Zoning Board approval that he received from the city Zoning Board of Adjustment for a similar project, according to court papers. Tuerk said he didn’t challenge the December 2006 approval because several neighborhood groups challenged it, including the Old City Civic Association. However, those groups dropped their challenge in 2008, after the developer agreed to scale down his project from 23 stories to nine. Embodied in the December 2006 approval for the 23-story building was approval for an alternate building of nine stories, which Tuerk didn’t challenge, according to Neil Sklaroff, an attorney for the developer. Sklaroff said Yaron’s building will enhance the neighborhood. “There were a number of experts who collaborated on the project, along with neighbors, the Old City Civic Association and other groups and agencies that added their input,” Sklaroff said. “We came up with a premier project which everyone can be proud of when it’s completed.” Sklaroff declined to speculate on a time-frame for the building’s construction. He also didn’t know whether the dwelling units would be available as condos, apartments or co-ops. The complex legal maneuvering has left Tuerk frustrated but undaunted. “I feel left out of the process if the developer is going to rely upon prior approvals,” Tuerk said. “I’m continuing to monitor the situation.” Tuerk also serves as a board member of the Gay and Lesbian See DEVELOPMENT, Page 19

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

PAGE 17

Gayborhood welcomes Big Bellies Move Forward Fitness Washington Square West, which encompasses the Gayborhood, soon will also house innovative new trash receptacles, which the city pledges will have big environmental and economic beneﬁts. More than 100 Big Belly solarpowered trashcans will be installed between Chestnut and South and Seventh and Broad streets. The devices are self-compacting and can hold about four times the waste as the current trashcans in the area, and are projected to save the city up to $12 million over the next year. By the end of July, the city will have installed 500 Big Bellies in the areas between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers and South and Spring Garden streets. Judy Applebaum, president of the Washington West Civic Association, recently met with Carlton Williams, deputy commissioner of the city’s streets department, to discuss plans for the installation of the new devices, which is expected by July 1. Applebaum said the Big Bellies

will be both plentiful and efficient than the current receptacles. “The old trashcans, there were just not enough of them in our area, and with their design, there was usually more garbage left on the street than actually got into the cans,” she said. The Big Bellies can hold up to 200 gallons of trash, as opposed to the current cans, which hold only about 55 gallons and are open at the top, leading to the overflow that Applebaum mentioned. Applebaum also noted the setup of the new devices may cut down on local residents using them to deposit their personal trash. “One of the big problems we have now with the other trashcans is that people in the neighborhood put their household garbage into them, but this new design will, I think, prevent that because you’re not going to be able to get these big bags in there. I think that will be a great help in keeping the neighborhood clean.” The city will also only have to deploy workers to empty the containers five times a week — compared with the 19 times that the current baskets need to be emptied — cutting down on

personnel and fuel costs. Big Bellies also are equipped with an electronic monitoring system that will alert the streets department if a bin is nearing its maximum capacity before it’s scheduled for service. The city is also installing pedestrian recycling containers alongside 210 of the new receptacle. The entire program will cost the city about $2.2 million, covered entirely by a state grant. The Washington West area will also beneﬁt this summer from a street-cleaning service contracted by the civic association. The association asked for donations from local residents and pledged to match each dollar brought in, raising enough to pay for the twiceweekly service until September. Applebaum noted that if the association raises additional money, it will be able to continue the cleaning service in the fall. “We are hoping to continue to raise more money and to continue doing this. The combination of the new Big Bellies and the street cleaning should make a big difference in keeping the area clean,” Applebaum said. ■

Center City parking system to get facelift By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer Beginning this summer, drivers parking in and around the Gayborhood will no longer have to dig for quarters between their seats or scour local stores for change for a dollar. In July, the Philadelphia Parking Authority will install multi-space meters throughout Center City that will offer patrons numerous payment options and aim to free up more parking spaces. Two or three computerized meters will be installed on each block in the “core” of Center City — from Fourth to 20th streets and Arch to Locust — where patrons can pay for the amount of time they need and then receive a printed ticket to display on their dashboards. The new meters will accept coins, dollar bills, credit cards and PPA Smart Cards. The $11-million project will be completed in this area of Center City by the end of July and will be implemented next in University City and the rest of Center City by February.

Rick Dickson, PPA senior director of strategic planning, said the machines will alleviate some of the headaches people face when trying to park on city streets. “The new equipment gives people more payment options, which increases the convenience of parking,” he said. “It will also provide ﬂexibility in the time limits and hours we can use.” Dickson explained that most spaces around retail areas in Center City have a two-hour parking limit, but that the new machines will allow parking ofﬁcials to more easily expand that time limit to three hours on evenings and weekends to accommodate patrons who stay in the area longer. But, Dickson said the revamped system will encourage visitors to move on when their time is up — as parkers will no longer be able to just throw more change in the meters — freeing up spaces for other visitors. “When this is fully implemented, it will increase the opportunities for people to park in Center City because it does push those people

who were parking for longer periods of time out of those spaces so that they can really be used for retail customers rather than for people who park there all day.” Judy Applebaum, president of the Washington West Civic Association, attested that the Gayborhood already has a plethora of parking problems. “The Parking Authority needs to walk through Wash. West and change many of the places they have placed their ‘No Parking’ or ‘No Parking, Here to Corner’ [signs] on many of the streets,” Applebaum said. “The signs are ill-placed and could create many more parking spaces if properly placed in the neighborhood.” The system has already been implemented in parts of the city, such as on South Street and around the Headhouse Square area. PPA raised rates for on-street parking from $1 to $2 an hour earlier this year, and the rates will increase to $3 an hour this summer. ■ Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

PAGE 18

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Conference to address diverse trans-health issues By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer

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The eighth-annual Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference kicked off this week, with three days full of workshops, seminars, ﬁlm screenings and activities meant to educate and empower the transgender community and its supporters. The conference is taking place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1201 Arch St., until June 13. About 1,500 people attended last year’s conference, and Cody Poerio, chair of the conference planning committee, said attendance at this year’s event is on track to top that number. The conference is expected to draw participants from throughout United States, Canada and England. The conference, presented by LGBT health clinic Mazzoni Center, will feature more than 100 events geared toward all members of the transgender community. The ﬁrst day of the conference, however, was designed for medical, mental-health and socialservice professionals who work with transgender individuals, to heighten their awareness and

MINISTER From Page 13 out the door, but these two older women who were a row behind us — they must have been in their 80s, with walkers and canes — came up to us and wouldn’t let us leave. The one put her arms around me and said, ‘I’m so glad you’re here in our community.’ It was the exact opposite of anything I was expecting. I was so caught off-guard. It really moved me and touched me. It showed me that there could actually be a mainstream religious community where I was really accepted.” Mishra became more involved in the church and was invited to preach several times during services. Around this time, Mishra decided to leave his position with the State Department in advance of the impending Bush administration, saying he had a “clear sense that [Bush’s] foreign policy was not going to cohere”

understanding of the issues facing this community. Providers’ Day featured discussions on such topics as barriers to HIV care for transgender individuals and the latest technology being utilized for sexual-reassignment surgeries, as well as a keynote address by Dr. Lisa O’Connor, whose practice focuses mainly on transgender people. Community Days, June 12 and 13, will focus on the transgender community itself, with a series of activities for transgender individuals and their allies to learn more about the health and social issues facing the community. All Community Days events are free. “For years our focus has been about mind, body, spirit and community, and we’ve tried to maintain that,” Poerio said. “Our primary mission is to provide access to information that these people may not otherwise have access to, and we’ve deﬁnitely stayed in that tradition.” Poerio noted that this year, organizers decided to create two new programming tracks — spirituality and people of color — to meet community demands. The new tracks will include programs such as “Transcending Religious Transgressions,”

which will focus on religious and spiritual struggles faced by transgender youth, and “Anotha Kinda Brotha,” where men-ofcolor panelists will share their experiences with both breastimplant and sexual-reassignment surgeries. Community Days will also feature programming that focuses on other facets of the transgender community, such as youth, the elderly, families and femaleto-male and male-to-female individuals, and will include a keynote speech by trans activist and writer Julia Serano. Poerio said attendees reﬂect the programming’s diversity. “It’s wildly diverse, and we’ve tried to become even more inclusive this year in our offerings,” he said. “We have people come in who are 5 years old with their families who are dealing with issues of gender dysphoria, all the way to people who are retiring and aging into the senior-citizen community. It really does vary; we have a large transmale population that comes, and also a lot of trans-female, genderqueer and gender-variant people. We try to present something for everyone.” For more information, visit www.trans-health.org. ■

with his own world views, and he also “got tired of being a bureaucrat and wanted to have a greater impact and be able to touch people’s lives in a broader, deeper way.” He entered the seminary, receiving his master of divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 2005 and was ordained as a UU minister that fall. Mishra and his partner took part in a Hindu/UU wedding ceremony last weekend in Florida, and he said he’s learned to fuse tenets of both Hinduism and Unitarian Universalism into his life. “Now that I’m a minister and have studied Hinduism academically, I know that my turning my back on Hinduism wasn’t necessary. There are lots of gay- and lesbian-afﬁrming stories in Hinduism, but I just didn’t know where to look then. As I kid, I couldn’t ﬁnd what I was looking for. But I can see now that those examples exist.” Mishra said he was attracted to the UU congregation in Cherry

Hill because it’s an organization that is growing both internally and externally, bolstering its support for its congregants while developing its outreach to other communities. “This is a church of 300 that’s well on its way to being a church of 500,” Mishra said. “They’re actively engaged in social-justice issues, with marriage equality being one of those, as well as economic issues and homelessness. It was very important to me that I be in a community that cares about making a difference.” Mishra said the move to Jersey also affords him and his partner myriad other personal opportunities — such as access to civil unions, the possibility of marriage equality in the future and adoption rights for the family they’re planning on starting — that weren’t available to them in Florida. ■ Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.

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Woman with AIDS receives $250,000 By Timothy Cwiek PGN Writer-at-Large A Philadelphia-area woman with AIDS has received $250,000 from a viatical firm, after she sued it in 2005 for allegedly threatening to stop paying her health-insurance premiums. The woman, identified in court papers as “M. Smith,” was diagnosed with cancer and AIDS in 1992 and given only two years to live. In 1994, she sold her $150,000 life-insurance policy to Life Partners Inc. of Waco, Texas, for $90,000. As part of the deal, Life Partners allegedly agreed to pay Smith’s health-insurance premiums until she died. Between 1996-2009, those premium payments totaled about $170,000, according to court papers. If Smith had died when predicted, Life Partners would have profited by collecting the proceeds from her life-insurance policy without having to continue paying her health premiums. But Smith, now 53, continued to live healthily, and Life Partners was required to continue paying her health-insurance premiums. R. Scott Peden, president of Life Partners, had no comment for this story. Smith sued Life Partners in 2005, after the company twice threatened — in writing — to stop paying her health-insurance premiums, according to court

DEVELOPMENT From Page 16 Lawyers of Philadelphia, which hasn’t taken a position on the dispute. Thomas A. Hess, another openly gay resident of Old City, also opposes Yaron’s project. He said parking is at a premium in Old City, and the existing lot serves a definite purpose. “If you start building midrises all over Old City, that will definitely change the character of the neighborhood,” said Hess. “It’s a quality-of-life issue — preserving the architectural integrity of what’s already here.” Randal A. Baron, an assistant historic preservation officer for the city’s Historical Commission, said the commission must review Yaron’s plans for the site before a building permit can be issued. A date for that meeting has not yet been determined, he said.

papers. The following year, a New Jersey judge ordered Life Partners to place $837,357 into a fund to cover future payments for Smith’s health premiums. However, Life Partners appealed the order. In October 2007, a New Jersey appellate court overturned the order and sent the case back to the lower court to determine an appropriate remedy for Smith. Rather than proceed to trial, both sides settled the case with the $250,000 cash payment to Smith. In the settlement agreement, Life Partners acknowledged no wrongdoing. Ronda B. Goldfein, executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, served as an attorney for Smith. She said the $250,000 settlement was the largest amount ever obtained for a client in the organization’s 21-year history. “Now Ms. Smith has the funds to arrange for her appropriate lifetime health insurance, plus peace of mind, which is priceless,” Goldfein told PGN. She said Smith has a basic Blue Cross policy, and the $250,000 will be used to supplement her coverage to pay for medications, doctors’ visits and medical procedures that Blue Cross doesn’t cover. Goldfein described Smith’s previous health insurance, which Life Partners funded, as a “Cadillac” policy that covered

Smith’s medical needs with minimal co-pays. “We should all have access to a Cadillac policy,” Goldfein added. “But in fact, Ms. Smith didn’t need a Cadillac policy; she needed financial assistance for a satisfactory policy. We’ve given her that — along with peace of mind.” Goldfein and other law-project staffers amassed hundreds of work hours on the case over several years, she said. “The case dragged on for almost five years, and the other side challenged our client every step of the way,” Goldfein said. “I think Life Partners underestimated that Ms. Smith would be able to find lawyers that would put up this much of a fight.” Goldfein said the settlement money is non-taxable. “The IRS has determined that these types of transactions are non-taxable events,” Goldfein said. “She received the money on June 1. I would hope that she has good investment advice.” Goldfein said the settlement obviated the need for a trial, but Smith was prepared for a trial if necessary.

Baron said a narrow street known as Little Boy’s Way runs along the eastern edge of the property, and the commission would be interested in knowing exactly how the street will be restored and preserved. Little Boy’s Way is one of the oldest surviving streets in Philadelphia, having retained its original stone paving materials, Baron pointed out. Joseph A. Schiavo, a member of the Old City Civic Association, said he supports construction of the nine-story building, noting it’s much better than Yaron’s earlier 23-story proposal. Schiavo added the nine-story building will have commercial space on the first floor, which could be beneficial to the area. “A hardware store, drug store or food retailer — they would all be good for Old City,” he said. Schiavo said a significant portion of the nine-story building

fronting Arch Street will be lower than nine stories, and the building also will have a recessed courtyard along Little Boy’s Way. “It’s more open space, and pushes the height of the building back off of that small street,” Schiavo said. Tuerk said he plans to attend the meeting of the Historical Commission when Yaron’s project comes up for review, and remains optimistic that the height limit will be enforced. “If you disregard the height limit, a certain quaintness is removed,” Tuerk said. “I think our system is weighed in favor of development. And it’s time to stop the overbuilding of Old City by drawing the line at 226 Arch St. Otherwise, you might want to rename our section of the city New City instead of Old City.” ■

“We were prepared to take whatever precautions necessary to protect her identity,” Goldfein added. “With this settlement, we showed that you don’t get to push around people with AIDS because you think they’re sick and can’t ﬁght back.” ■

Timothy Cwiek can be reached at (215) 625-8501 ext. 208.

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

In US, gay marriage has political angle By Holly Ramer and Mike Glover The Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. — Iowa and New Hampshire traditionally offer presidential candidates vastly different political landscapes when they seek their party nominations. Yet legalizing gay marriage, as both states have now done, is unlikely to have much impact in 2012 because of party dynamics and the different emphasis voters place on social issues. Gay marriage became legal in Iowa in April after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that denying gays the right to marry is discriminatory. In New Hampshire, the Legislature approved and the governor signed a gay-marriage bill last Wednesday that will take effect Jan. 1. While some see opposition to gay marriage easing nationwide, that’s not the case among Iowa Republicans — especially the relatively small number who

MILITARY From Page 1 speciﬁc move to do so since taking ofﬁce in January. Meanwhile, the White House has said it won’t stop gays and lesbians from being dismissed from the military. At present, a bill that would repeal the ban, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, has 142 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. In court papers, the administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it found that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” Pentagon spokesperson Bryan Whitman referred requests for comment to the Justice Department, but said the military

UNIONS From Page 11 meat-grinder-like process. Your employer may lie to you, intimidate you, spy on you and perhaps even ﬁre you illegally. Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University found in a study of more than 1,000 union organizing campaigns over four years that these kinds of tactics are shockingly common among employers. Fifty-seven percent

dominate the state’s leadoff precinct caucuses. Social and religious conservatives dominate that group, and their opposition to gay marriage is solid. To be competitive among Iowa Republicans, presidential candidates likely will have to toe that line, key strategists said. “I’m guessing that most of the serious candidates will be for a constitutional amendment to deﬁne marriage,” said David Roederer, a veteran activist who managed Sen. John McCain’s campaign in the state. “I don’t think there’s going to be much of a difference.” Steve Schefﬂer, head of the Iowa Christian Alliance, said the debate over gay marriage is part of a larger discussion of what he sees as the declining social culture of the country. Candidates must address that, he said, and gay marriage is a key element. “I think there’s a whole wide range of issues they need to address — the state of our economy, the decline of our culture. All of those

things have to be put on the table,” said Schefﬂer. “It’s absolutely essential, and it would behoove them to talk about it. I don’t think they can dodge it or duck.” That isn’t the case in New Hampshire, where Republicans tend to be more ﬁscally conservative and socially moderate. New Hampshire has allowed civil unions since 2008; Iowa never allowed them. “When presidential candidates campaign here, they have traditionally focused on the economy, foreign policy, healthcare,” said political analyst Dean Spiliotes. “Social issues have never really played a major role here in the campaign.” A poll conducted by Dartmouth College in May found New Hampshire voters evenly split on gay marriage. Broken down by party, gay marriage had the support of 63 percent of Democrats, 43 percent of undeclared voters and 17 percent of Republicans. Although the two states vote

only days apart, candidates have a history of switching gears between Iowa and New Hampshire and will continue to do so, Spiliotes said, pointing to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won Iowa’s GOP caucus in 2008. “When he was in Iowa, it was all about social conservatism, and then when he came to New Hampshire, that almost completely vanished,” he said. “So I don’t think that it’s going to have a huge impact on how people campaign here because I think to some extent, the state already had the reputation for being more libertarian, if not more moderate.” New Hampshire’s primaries are open to independents, who outnumber those registered with either party and hold signiﬁcant sway. Many are likely to vote Republican in 2012 if President Obama seeks re-election and faces no primary opposition. In Iowa, there’s very little party switching or involvement by independents, and history shows

that a relatively small number of the parties’ hard-core activists determine the outcome. Giving an easy victory to Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, speaks volumes of the mindset of the Republican activists who dominate the party and the precinct caucuses. “We’ve gone so far to the social right, particularly in caucus attendees, that unless you meet certain litmus tests, you have a very difﬁcult time competing in Iowa,” said Doug Gross, the party’s 2002 gubernatorial nominee. Gay marriage might pose a different kind of litmus test in New Hampshire, said Jennifer Donahue, political director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. “The way people interpret this issue tells more about their feelings about government’s role in their personal lives than it does about gay marriage,” she said. “It becomes almost a litmus test for the candidates as to how libertarian they are.” ■

policy “implements the law.” “The law requires the [Defense] Department to separate from the armed services members who engage in or attempt to engage in homosexual acts; state they are homosexual or bisexual; or marry or attempt to marry a person of the same biological sex,” Whitman said in a statement. A legal advocacy group vowed to press ahead with efforts to reverse the policy despite the legal setback. “We don’t see that at all as bad news for repeal,” said Kevin Nix, spokesperson for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “What happened today puts the ball back into the court of Congress and the White House to repeal the law, and that’s where we think it should be right now.” Nix said there are no objective studies showing unit cohesion,

morale and order are harmed by openly gay people. “There are people out there and still serving, and the unit is not crumbling beneath their feet,” he said, adding that attitudes among troops and society are far different than they were in the 1990s when the policy was instituted. “Times have changed ... fast forward 16 years,” Nix said. “The servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan — their attitudes toward gay people are very different than some retired generals in their 50s and 60s who served in the 20th century. It’s a different world.” Opposition to gay marriage, for example, has eased nationwide and six states have legalized samesex unions. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont and Iowa allow gay marriage, though opponents

hope to overturn Maine’s law with a public vote. California brieﬂy allowed gay marriage before a public vote banned it; a court ruling grandfathered in couples who were already married. Polls show younger Americans are far more tolerant of gay marriage than are older generations. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was established in 1993, when President Clinton had to abandon efforts to allow gays to serve openly in the armed forces after facing strong resistance from the military and members of Congress. Last year, the federal appeals court in San Francisco allowed a decorated ﬂight nurse to continue her lawsuit over her dismissal. The court stopped short of declaring the policy unconstitutional, but

said the Air Force must prove that ousting former Maj. Margaret Witt furthered the military’s goals of troop readiness and unit cohesion. The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was the ﬁrst that evaluated “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” through the lens of a 2003 Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas ban on sodomy as an unconstitutional intrusion on privacy. The administration did not appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court and Witt’s lawsuit is ongoing. The appeals court in Pietrangelo’s case also took the high court decision into account, but concluded that it should defer to Congress’ determination that the policy fosters cohesion in military units. The case is Pietrangelo v. Gates, 08-824. ■

threaten to close the worksite if the employees choose a union, 47 percent threaten to cut their wages and beneﬁts and 34 percent actually ﬁre workers. Workers should never have to endure all of this just to get a union. So what’s the solution? The Employee Free Choice Act would help a lot. You’ve probably heard of it. Its centerpiece is majority signup. If most employees in

your workplace sign cards saying they want to join a union, you get your union, plain and simple. The Employee Free Choice Act sounds fair because it is. Sen. Bob Casey supports it, but Sen. Arlen Specter is in the middle right now. He needs to hear your opinion. Just call his ofﬁce at (215) 597-7200 or go online to specter.senate.gov. Tell him you support the Employee Free Choice Act and he should too.

Don’t do it for Ricardo or me. We don’t need it. We’re among the lucky LGBT workers who already have unions. Instead, send the message in honor of those magniﬁcent, precious LGBT kids who are soon going out into the world to get their ﬁrst jobs. Do it so that when they’re building our homes, teaching our students, checking our groceries and nursing us back to health, they’ll have more opportunity and security and

power on the job than most of us when we were young could ever dream of. It’s that important. ■ Nancy Wohlforth is the ﬁrst openly LGBT worker in history to serve as a vice-president and Executive Council member of the AFL-CIO. She is also secretary-treasurer of the Ofﬁce and Professional Employees International Union and co-president of Pride at Work, the organization of LGBT union members.

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Gayborhood coffee shop closes after ‘audit from hell’ By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer

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Joe Coffee Bar, a gay-owned coffee shop at 1100 Walnut St., brewed its final mug last month after the store’s owner underwent a several-month audit that cost him as much money as it did time. Joe Cesa, who opened the locale in 2001 as the first fair-trade coffee house in the area, said an Internal Revenue Service audit of his business that was supposed to be routine turned out to be anything but. The IRS contacted Cesa last July 23 to notify him he was going to be audited through the Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center. “It was like getting divorce papers in the mail. Your alarm goes off, and the first thing I thought was, ‘Did I do anything wrong? No, I didn’t,’” he said. “So I brought the letter to my accountant and he basically asked me the same thing, if there was anything he needed to be aware of, and I said no. So he said, ‘OK, this looks like it’s a routine audit, no big deal.’” The first day of the audit, the auditor met with Cesa’s accountant for about seven hours and then stopped by the store for a site visit, where, according to Cesa, she began behaving unprofessionally and disrupting his business, throwing papers at him and drawing attention to his financials while customers were present. “She’s in the café doing a site visit, and people aren’t supposed to know this is going on. She’s standing in the middle of the room and she’s talking about stuff, like ‘Where’s the inventory? You have to have more inventory; you spent however much money on coffee. Where is it?’” Cesa said. “So people could hear it. If someone’s walking around yelling about how much money you spend a year and how she can’t see where all your coffee is, it would make people think that something’s wrong.” Cesa said the duration of the audit was not much better than the initial visit. He said that numerous times throughout the process, he and his

accountant supplied the auditor with the requested paperwork, but she later asked for the materials several more times, prolonging the process. “My accountant started documenting that we had these papers, they were there; she may or may not have looked at them, but they were there,” he said. “She was asking for stuff that we have provided and sometimes even stuff that she said she read, so it looked like we’re not being cooperative. My accountant said he’s been doing this for 20 years and he’s never, ever seen an audit like this.” David Stewart, Philadelphia IRS spokesperson, said the agency recommends that taxpayers who are sending documents to the IRS do so via certiﬁed mail to keep track of their submissions on their own. He said auditors also take measures to document what materials they receive. “We will send out a letter that’s called an Information Document Request, asking for documents A, B, C and D, to keep track of what we ask for,” Stewart said. “And then we also have appointment records. When we’re meeting face to face with someone and they show or give you a document or we discuss it, we’ll write down in a log book what we discussed and what documents were reviewed.” According to Cesa, this did not appear to be the case with his auditor. In October, he wrote a letter to his auditor’s supervisor, detailing the problems of her repeated requests for the same documents. Cesa said the auditor’s attitude improved after he contacted her supervisor, but that she continued to pursue avenues he felt were unnecessary. He said that although he was able to produce about 99 percent of the documents she asked for, the auditor alleged he was hiding $200,000 in cash. Cesa said he doesn’t have health insurance and at the time was driving an 18-year-old car — which he has since given away. He said the auditor later dropped the $200,000 issue and did not mention that money again. “I’m driving this old car,

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

contended that Cesa was not claiming all of his income. On two separate occasions, Cesa allowed two friends to spend a few months living with him because of home renovations and other issues, and the two gave him a small amount of money each month for such expenses as television and Internet. Although there was no lease or any formal rent JOE CESA Photo: Jen Colletta a g r e e m e n t , the auditor said it qualiwearing ratty clothing and have no health insurance, but she’s fied as income on which he had to demanding that I have all this pay taxes. Cesa said it appeared to him that money somewhere,” he said. “And then if it was so important the auditor was determined to find to carry on about this, why would financial wrongdoing on his part. “If you were fishing at a spot she just walk away from this and on the river, and you’re there for forget about it?” Cesa said the auditor also tried five hours and you don’t pull up to demonstrate that he had more anything, you’re not even getting money than he was reporting a boot, something tells me that by inaccurately accusing him of most people would pick up and opening a second business. Cesa go look somewhere else,” he said. said the auditor was referring to a “This woman would sit there until small kiosk he was planning to open she dies.” Cesa said the auditor never in Greenable, an environmentally conscious building supply and projected any outright homophobia, design company on Market but he’d had numerous ACT UP posters hanging in his windows Street. “She said, ‘He’s opening a during her site visits. Cesa contacted U.S. Sen. Arlen restaurant. I know it, it’s on his Web site. He’s expanding.’ And Specter’s office last fall to request my accountant said, ‘He’s opening intervention, and a representative a kiosk. Do you know what a of the senator’s office filed a kiosk is?’ I was going to rent this complaint on his behalf with the tiny space from a business that’s Tax Advocacy Service, an internal already open, and she’s trying to IRS agency that provides support to individuals or businesses with call it a restaurant?” After having purchased all of grievances against the IRS. Cesa the equipment for the kiosk, he said a TAS agency contacted him later had to discontinue plans to in October, but did not return numerous calls Cesa placed to open because of the audit. The auditor additionally him between then and December.

Recreation

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Cesa said the auditor eventually determined that he owed the IRS $2,000, which he agreed in midJanuary to pay. Stewart noted that taxpayers unsatisﬁed with the audit process or its results have the option to appeal the case in U.S. Tax Court or District Court, which Cesa said he ideally would have done — but a tax lawyer would have cost him an additional $4,000, which he did not have. Under the agreement, Cesa will now pay the IRS $75 a month until the balance is paid off. Cesa estimated the audit cost him more than $20,000 — in accountant fees, payment to employees who ran the store while he was working on the audit, and about $2,000 in lost income he previously received from cooking snacks for a kindergarten program, which he had to stop during the audit. Cesa also said the excessive hours he spent gathering materials for the audit — which he approximated at about 10 full work weeks out of the six-month period — also prevented him from updating Joe Coffee’s Web site or doing any advertising for the store, which he surmises also impacted his business. Joe Coffee shut down May 27, and Cesa said he now plans to sell his products at Pumpkin Market, 1610 South St., as well as at the weekly Headhouse Market this summer, but that he will also have to seek employment elsewhere to make ends meet. “I’m going to be paying them this pittance every month for a very long time. If I hit the lottery and got $4,000, I’d go to court tomorrow, because this just wasn’t right,” Cesa said. “If this is supposed to be normal and happening to everyone, then right now there’s a retired widow in her kitchen in Northeast Philly having someone screaming at her that she’s a deadbeat and a drain on society. Either I was singled out for something, or they just do this to people at random, but either way, it’s wrong.” ■ Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.

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International News Lithuania considers antigay school law The Lithuanian Parliament is set to introduce a law to prohibit the discussion of homosexuality in schools, similar to a law in Britain that for years hampered the ability of teachers to discuss sexuality or help gay students. On June 3, the Lithuanian Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favor of moving forward to a ﬁnal vote on an amendment to the Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information. If passed, the amendment will make it illegal to discuss homosexuality in schools and bans any reference to it in public information that can be viewed by children. Controversially, the proposed amendment classes homosexuality alongside the portrayal of physical or psychological violence, displaying a dead or mutilated body, information that arouses fear or horror, or that encourages self-abuse or suicide. British human-rights activist Peter Tatchell criticized the proposed law. “This legislation is homophobic discrimination,” he said. “As such, it

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Larry Nichols clearly violates the European Convention on Human Rights and the E.U. Charter of Fundamental Rights. It also violates the equality and antidiscrimination clauses of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Lithuania has signed up to these international humanitarian declarations but it is now defying them. It wants the rights of E.U. and U.N. membership, but not the responsibilities.” If passed into law, Lithuania could be in breach of the statement that it signed at the U.N. General Assembly last year that guaranteed human rights to everyone regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Domestic-violence law to include gays The Hong Kong government has announced that its Domestic Violence Ordinance will have an amendment to include same-sex couples. Following consultations, the new laws on domestic violence will remove all references to marriage or gender and refer to “cohabitation partnerships.” However, Matthew Cheung Kin-Chung,

the Minister for Labor and Welfare, said the amendment “will not affect the government’s policy stance of not recognizing same-sex marriage, civil partnership or any same-sex relationship as a matter of legal status, nor will it involve or affect other existing legislation.” Last August, the government extended the scope of the law to include former spouses, former heterosexual cohabitants and other immediate and extended family members.

Gay penguins raise chick A German zoo says a pair of gay male penguins are raising a chick from an egg abandoned by its parents. Bremerhaven Zoo veterinarian Joachim Schoene said the egg was placed in the male penguins’ nest after its parents rejected it in late April. The males incubated it for some 30 days before it hatched and have continued to care for it. The chick’s gender is not yet known. Schoene said the male birds, named Z and Vielpunkt, are one of three samesex pairs among the zoo’s 20 Humboldt penguins that have attempted to mate. Homosexual behavior has been documented in many animal species, including penguins.

AND BABY MAKES THREE: A young Humboldt penguin of about six weeks watches from behind one of its two adoptive male parents in their cave in the “Zoo am Meer” zoological park June 3 in Bremerhaven, northern Germany. After a penguin egg had been abandoned by its biological parents, it was placed in the male penguins’ nest, who then adopted and hatched it. The gender of the penguin chick has not yet been determined. The male birds, named Z and Vielpunkt, are one of three same-sex pairs among the zoo’s 20 Humboldt penguins. AP Photo: Focke Strangmann

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

The zoo said in a statement that “sex and coupling in our world don’t always have something to do with reproduction.”

Drag queens featured in gum ads A new promotion for Stride Gum will feature drag queens performing a dance-off during the Toronto Pride festival on June 21. After dancing in front of a panel of judges at Woody’s, a Toronto gay bar, one drag queen will be crowned Miss Stride, winning $1,000 and the opportunity to dance on top of the Stride Gum Uber Bubble Float for the entire parade route. The contest is Stride Gum’s way of introducing its new ﬂavor, Uber Bubble, to Toronto’s revelers. Stride is owned by the British candy company Cadbury.

Moscow mayor taken to court Russian gay-rights activists are taking Moscow’s homophobic mayor to court for saying that gay people undermine a morally healthy society. Mayor Yuri Luzhkov ofﬁcially banned Slavic Pride from marching at the same time as the city hosted the ﬁnal of the Eurovision Song Contest. He had described them as satanic. “Our society has healthy morals and rejects all these queers,” Luzhkov said. “If you even imagine that they get permission to hold their parade and gather, they will simply be killed.” Nikolai Alexeyev of GayRussia said his lawyers would present a case to a Moscow court and hopes to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Alexeyev said the case is primarily about raising awareness. After British gay-rights activist Peter Tatchell was among a number of marchers arrested during Slavic Pride, Alexeyev said the city’s mayor “has done more than anyone to publicize gay rights in Russia.” “We ought to give Luzhkov an award,” he said. “His violation of our right to protest has given us a remarkable platform, with days of free publicity about lesbian and gay human rights. It is the equivalent of about 200 million rubles [nearly $6.5 million] in free advertising.”

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

Scottish hatecrime law to protect gays Members of the Scottish Parliament have voted to pass legislation to protect gay, trans and disabled people from hate crimes. The new law means targeting victims because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or disability will become an aggravating factor and is likely to lead to heavier sentences. It is also hoped the legislation will encourage more victims of hate crimes to come forward. Patrick Harvie, a Scottish Green Parliament Member who is openly gay, proposed the Sentencing of Offences Aggravated by Prejudice Bill. Despite concerns from the Conservatives that it could create a “two-tier justice system,” the law passed unanimously. Scotland already took into account crimes motivated by religious or racial hatred, but the new law will bring it in line with the rest of the U.K. “The issue of hate crime is one which reaches down into every community and affects real lives,” Harvie said. “Although this is a small step in the right direction, we should be glad we are able to take it.” He added that the law was no “silver bullet,” but was a “necessary part of the overall picture” for tackling prejudice and hate crimes. It is estimated that one in ﬁve lesbians and gays have been the victim of a homophobic hate crime or incident in the last three years.

Chef slammed for ‘lesbian pig’ slur TV chef Gordon Ramsay has been criticized after calling a leading Australian journalist a “lesbian pig.” He made the comment while giving a demonstration at a food show in Melbourne, Australia. He allegedly told his audience that “A Current Affair” presenter Tracy Grimshaw, who interviewed him on June 5, was “a lesbian” and “an ugly old pig.” He then showed the audience an image of a woman doctored with the features of a pig. “That’s Grimshaw,” he told the audience. “Holy crap. She needs to see a Botox doctor.”

The chef continued to attack Grimshaw, saying “What? I’m not saying she’s a dyke. That’s Tracy Grimshaw. I had an interview with her yesterday. Holy crap. She needs to see Simon Cowell’s Botox doctor.” In response, Grimshaw said Ramsay always had fair and generous treatment on “A Current Affair.”

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“Truly, I wonder how many people would laugh if they were effectively described as ‘an old ugly pig,’” she said. “How is that funny exactly? And worse, it’s not even witty. I spent all yesterday considering how to respond and I honestly thought about saying nothing at all, but we all know bullies thrive when no one takes them on. And I’m

not going to sit meekly and let some arrogant narcissist bully me.” Grimshaw added, “Obviously, Gordon thinks that any woman that doesn’t ﬁnd him attractive must be gay. For the record, I don’t and I’m not.” ■ Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.

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Locust streets at noon June 14, but will now proceed east on Locust to 11th, skipping the leg that went down 12th to Pine. The parade will still head north on 11th to Market Street bound for the festival at Penn’s Landing. Price said the new route will not pass Giovanni’s Room at 12th and Pine, a tradition she said the organization had continued to honor the longtime gay establishment. “To me, as an old-time gay Philadelphian, this is unfortunate because we do like to respect Giovanni’s Room and not forget our roots. Some people who’ve worked at Giovanni’s Room were some of the key people who organized the parade early on, and we like to recognize that,” she said. “But the new route is still in the Gayborhood, and I hope that everyone understands that

MARRIAGE From Page 1 to be inevitable.” Leach said the public response to his introduction of the legislation has fallen overwhelmingly on the side of marriage equality. “It’s been about 90-percent positive. There are of course a few colorful objectors, but I’ve been surprised that geographically and in terms of age groups, the support’s been pretty uniform. It’s encouraging.” Legislative backing for the bill, however, has been less pronounced. The legislation has one cosponsor, Sen. Larry Farnese (D-1st Dist.), and while Leach said he’s spoken with other lawmakers who are in favor of marriage equality, many are hesitant to publicly back it. “There are some legislators who’ve told me that they support it kind of secretly but are worried politically,” he said. “I can’t speak to their districts because I’m sure they know them better than I do, but I think people may overestimate the blowback they’ll get on this. There is a level of nervousness, which is to be expected, but having this discussion out in the open is a way to cure that nervousness.”

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

because of the economy this year, this is what we had to do to save the parade.” The route will now be about 1.3 miles and is expected to last less than an hour-and-a-half. The change in the route cut the police fee down to $8,900. Price said the organization put down a 20-percent deposit this week and will pay off the remainder of the balance in installments. During Mayor Nutter’s November budget cuts, he announced the city would begin charging for police presence at community events, and the city sent out letters notifying community organizations of this addition. Price said Philly Pride Presents received this letter, but when she submitted the permit applications earlier in the spring, she was told by the city the parade “fell within the guidelines,” which she assumed meant the parade was not large or long enough to warrant the added fee for the police.

She said she contacted the managing director’s ofﬁce at the end of May to inquire why she hadn’t received the permits, and received the e-mail with the price quote the following week, which she said “almost knocked me off my chair.” Repeated calls to the managing director’s ofﬁce were not returned by press time. Price said the situation illuminated the need for community support for events such as Pride. “We had no choice but to shorten the route, unless we cancelled the parade,” she said. “This is what we’re going to unfortunately be faced with from now on, and we may have to increase our fees next year to pay for this. It’s going to be tough, but I’m hoping the community realizes this and supports us and even thinks about making a contribution.” ■

The 14-member Judiciary Committee is headed by Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R-12th Dist.), who has voted in favor of previous attempts to ban same-sex marriage in the state constitution. Tyra Wallace, spokesperson for Greenleaf, said the committee may not meet again before the summer recess, which is expected at the end of June. Leach agreed that the issue probably will not come before the committee until the fall, as the legislature is currently working on the state budget, which he said “has sucked the oxygen out of the room on anything else we’d like to work on.” The state senate is also expected to consider a bill this session that would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. State Sen. John Eichelberger (R30th Dist.) announced last month that he would introduce such a bill, which he said is necessary to strengthen the 1996 law against possible legal challenges. A similar bill was tabled in the Senate last session before it could reach a vote. In order for the constitution to be amended, both chambers of the legislature would need to approve

the bill in the same format in two consecutive legislative sessions, and it would then be posed to the public as a ballot question. As of press time, Eichelberger had not yet introduced the measure. Meanwhile, legislation to ban discrimination against LGBT people in Pennsylvania is currently waiting approval in the House Appropriations Committee. House Bill 300 seeks to amend the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations in the state. Gabe Speece, spokesperson for Rep. Dan Frankel (D-23rd Dist.), the prime sponsor of the legislation, said he doesn’t expect the committee to consider the bill until this fall. “Realistically, it probably is not going to be taken up until after the budget,” Speece said. “The attention is on the state budget right now, so we’re probably not going to see any movement on this before the summer recess.” ■ Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn.com.

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NEWS BRIEFING From Page 5 Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Shampoo Nightclub, 417 N. Eighth St.; Heat Nightclub, 112 Chestnut St.; and at COLOURS, 1201 Chestnut St. or by calling (215) 496-0330.

Habitat classes for women Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia will hold a series of classes summer designed to empower and educate local women with practical construction skills. Women’s Build will start July 11 and continue the next three Saturdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Habitat’s warehouse, 1829 N. 19th St. Women will learn the basics of hand tools, power tools, framing, rooﬁng, sheathing, siding, insulation, drywall, painting, ﬂooring and carpentry. Each class will begin with a lecture, followed by hands-on practice. Students should be comfortable standing for several hours at a time. The four-week series is $295. Space is limited, and participants must be at least 18. For more information, visit www.habitatphiladelphia.org or call Shelly at (215) 765-6000 ext. 13.

form, sealed, official transcript, a résumé, copy of a final federal financial-aid form and a one-page essay and at least one academic reference. For more information or to apply, visit www.dvlf.org.

Filmmakers wanted for ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ contest WHYY and the Independent Television Service are calling on amateur filmmakers to submit short films on the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers. The first-ever Amateur Filmmaker Contest asks aspiring filmmakers to craft works under 10 minutes that have an underlying theme or relevancy to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Films will be accepted until June 30, and can be of any

genre. Films will be judged on their relevancy to the topic, their adherence to WHYY’s TV-PG rating, the quality of the direction and cinematography and running time. All entries must include the ﬁlm in either VHS or DVD format, an entry from and a brief synopsis of the ﬁlm. For more information, visit http://www.whyy.org/community/ asknotcontest.html.

TV show hunting for cast HGTV’s “House Hunters” will visit the Philadelphia area this summer in search of homebuyers and real-estate agents looking to tell their stories. The show proﬁles real-life individuals on the hunt for the perfect home, depicting the challenging and occasionally comedic ups and downs associated

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with the home-buying process. Homebuyers interested in being featured must be closing their sale within the next two months on a house that’s within a 90minute drive from downtown Philadelphia. For more information about the show, visit www.HGTV. com/HouseHunters or to apply, contact associate producer Christy Kruzick at (303) 712-3214 or CK ruzick@highnoonentertainment. com.

Awards to recognize LGBT nonprofits In honor of LGBT Pride Month, Great Nonprofits, a Web site that profiles community organizations throughout the country, is hosting its Pride Choice Awards 2009 to recognize the best of the best in the LGBT nonprofit community. Community members are

invited to post reviews of local nonprofits that offer services to LGBT individuals, and awards will be given out to organizations that garner the most positive ratings. Winners will be divided by five geographic regions throughout the country and also by three different categories of budget size. Winning organizations will be posted on GreatNonprofits.org, as well as on Guidestar.org. All individuals who post reviews for the winning organizations will be entered into a drawing for several prizes, such as a subscription to the Stanford Social Innovation Review, treats from Alter Eco fair-trade chocolate company and vacations. For more information or to post a review, visit www. greatnonprofits.org/pride. ■ — Jen Colletta

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A departure from the ordinary

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Out comedian/actor talks Philly Pride and impending fatherhood By Larry Nichols PGN Staff Writer If you watch television at all, no matter how infrequently, chances are you’ve seen Alec Mapa in something. The out actor, comedian and journalist has appeared on a number of hit TV shows, including “Friends,” “Roseanne,” “NYPD Blue” and “Seinfeld,” as well as in films like “Bright Lights, Big City” and “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” If that weren’t enough, Mapa also finds time to take his talents to the stage, having performed on Broadway in “M. Butterfly” and all over the country as a standup comic. Mapa said there’s a very good reason he’s able to work so much. “I bought a really expensive house, so I’m as busy as I need to be right now,” he said. Currently he can be found as a recurring cast member on two popular TV shows, which happen to be his favorites of all the shows he has worked on. “‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Ugly Betty’ I think are my favorites because they’re the first shows I’ve worked on that were gay-produced and written,” he said. “So you go on a set where gay people are in charge and there’s a completely different vibe. It’s open and it’s welcoming and it’s happy. I actually do feel the difference when I walk onto other sets. But those two sets, it’s one of those things where I can’t believe I get paid to hang out all day with those people because they’re all pretty smart.” Being on two hit TV shows has lately required him to live a very bi-coastal existence. “This year I’ve kind of been divided between the two,” Mapa said of the hit shows and the East and West coasts. “‘Ugly Betty’ has kept me busy. I appeared on half of their episodes this season and they shoot in New York. So I was flying to New York twice a month. In between that, I’ve been gigging. So it’s been half and half.” It appears that working on shows with so much gay talent behind the scenes has inspired Mapa to throw his fashionable hat into the ring as well. “I’m in the process of doing that now,” he said of his plans to

write or produce his own TV show. “I have something in development that I can’t quite talk about yet. The way to go is producing your own content. I started doing standup as a way of giving myself a job whether I had one or not. It became my default position. Even if I didn’t have a television series, I could be on the road and supporting myself. And that way, I never really worried about getting work because I always had it. I think that will deﬁnitely be my future. I will be writing and producing and television is going to get a whole lot queerer.” Mapa’s success on TV is all well and good, but it’s his comedic skills that ﬁnd him headlining this year’s Philly Pride Festival. “They can expect a whole bunch of rotten jokes and really sophomoric humor, mixed in with a little politics and wit,” Mapa said of his upcoming performance. “People have referred to my act as smart, which is always kind of shocking to

me because I don’t think it’s very smart. But as long as people are laughing, I’m happy.” Let’s hope the audiences are happy as well. Mapa, and probably the many other comics from past Prides, know that sweaty and march-weary revelers don’t always get into the spirit of a comedy show as easily as club audiences. “That’s a real comedy killer: the heat,” he said. “But I’m hoping people will be in the mood to laugh and I’m hoping there won’t be too many children standing in the front, because Uncle Al’s club act really isn’t for the kids.” Most artists who straddle such an entertainment fence usually favor one side over the other, but Mapa said there are elements of working on television and performing live that he enjoys equally. “I kind of really enjoy the protective shell of playing somebody else and having somebody else write what I do, but it’s also very

empowering to be kind of authentic and do my own stuff,” he said. It looks like Mapa will continue to do his thing on the small screen and the stage for the time being. Both “Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives” have been picked up for new seasons, which is good news considering that rumors of ‘Betty’ getting cancelled were ﬂying around this season. Mapa said he wasn’t too concerned about the fate of the show. “I’ve been an actor for more than 20 years, so I kind of believe in the inevitable death of everything,” he said. “I’m really cognizant of that. Regardless of how big a hit is, regardless of how successful something is, there will be a closing night. Part of me is kind of always emotionally prepared for that sort of thing. So the fact that we got renewed for season four [for “Ugly Betty”] is just gravy for me because I’m always ready to go. I’ve worked on television series

where people wallpapered their dressing rooms, bought furniture and redecorated. I’m of the theater. On the very last day, my space in front of my mirror is clear. You’d never even know that I was there.” One of Mapa’s recent TV shows that got the ax was LOGO’s “Transamerican Love Story,” a reality dating show hosted by Mapa and centered around a transgender woman, Calpernia Addams. He said that one season of the show was enough to get its point across. “We made our mark in transgender history and I was really proud to be a part of that, because if we’re crying for visibility as lesbians and gays, the transgendered are even more invisible,” he said. “I only did it on the caveat that all the men knew they were dating a transgender woman and wanted to. That was really important to me. I didn’t want it to be a part of it if it was

MAPA AS SUZUCKI ST. PIERRE IN “UGLY BETTY” Photo: Patrick Harbron/ABC

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

Photo: Mike Ruiz

going to be a cheap Jerry Springery-type thing. There was a BBC show where several men were in a “Bachelor”-type show dating a transgender woman and didn’t

know. There was talk of bringing a show like that here and I feel like transgender people go through enough prejudice, ignorance and violence that I wouldn’t want to be

a part of something that contributed to that.” When PGN caught up with Mapa, he had just returned from a trip to Berlin — a trip he and his partner took for some fun before their next life-changing episode. “My husband and I just ﬁnished parenting classes through L.A. County Foster Adoption,” he said. “We’re in the process of adopting a baby this year and we just ﬁnished classes, so we wanted to take one last trip where we were two irresponsible homosexuals bouncing around Europe. All of our friends work in clubs and know all the night scenes, and we were both in bed at eleven o’clock every night. So I think we’re ready for kids.” Mapa added that he doesn’t think parenthood will completely turn him and his partner into some kind of gay Ward and June Cleaver. “We hope that we can remain the people that we are,” he said. “We’re not going to change all that radically in personality. I know a lot of people that become zombieparents, but I also know people that become even more authentic people once they have kids. I’m hoping that we will be among them, because stuff gets real really fast. In order to get ready for that, we went to Berlin.” When asked how fatherhood would impact his career as a globetrotting entertainer, Mapa said he and his partner think the right gig could make things work smoothly. “I’ve been missing performing live a lot and we’re both hoping that I get a job that just keeps me

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in one place for a while,” he said. “If that were a Broadway play, we would relocate to New York for six months easily. But we’re hoping more than anything it’s a series that keeps me in town.” With all the changes on the horizon, Mapa is well aware that any gay couple together and/or adopting a child has to be mindful of the ﬂuctuations in marriage and adoption laws in the country, especially if they live in California. For his part, he said, he isn’t too concerned because he focuses on the big picture. “Well, here’s the thing,” he said. “The Supreme Court already voted to uphold Proposition 8 and I kind of saw it coming. I’m 43 years old. When I was a kid, Stonewall happened. When I was in junior high school, Harvey Milk was shot. When I came out, everybody was dying from AIDS. Living this long and being cognizant of what’s going on in the world, I always see the pendulum swinging back and forth and we always get further and further along. At this point, I know that gay marriage in America is going to be an inevitability and I’m embarrassed that California is going to be on the wrong side of history. I feel bad for California because I don’t think that’s a point in history where 52 percent of the population can hold their heads high. They’re going to be kind of mortiﬁed by it in years to come.” At the moment, there is an organization other than the antigay marriage forces that has Mapa’s full and undivided attention. “Right now, project one is getting this house ready for a

baby,” he explained. “There’s a whole checklist from the county that if every parent in America had to cross this safety check, they would all have their children taken away. Right now, we’re going through our background check and going through this thing called a Livescan where you’re ﬁngerprinted and there’s this disclosure form of whether or not you’ve been arrested, and I actually had to think about it for a second.” And? “I’m good.” Damn. Maybe they will be the gay Ward and June Cleaver. Still, baby preparations don’t necessarily mean Mapa is going to be no fun after he’s performing in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. “I love Philly,” he said. “Philadelphia is one of my favorite towns, so I’m hoping to go hop around and see folks. I’m not really a club person anymore now that I’m a mature young lady of the theater. I think that what’s great about Philly is a drink with a couple of friends can turn into a three-day adventure. I’ll just tend to tag along with whoever invites me and see where the evening takes me.” That’s more like it. Alec Mapa headlines Philly Pride Festival on June 14 at Penn’s Landing, 100 S. Columbus Blvd. For more information, visit www. alecmapa.com or www.phillypride. org. ■ Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.

All kinds of fun at Philly Pride Actor and comedian Alec Mapa may be the big-name headliner for this year’s Pride festivities, but that doesn’t mean he’s the only person set to deliver a star-worthy performance from noon-6 p.m. June 14 at Penn’s Landing, 100 S. Columbus Blvd. Grand Marshals Stephen A. Glassman and Rue Landau and Youth Grand Marshals Sergio Morales and Tanya Washington will preside over the Pride Parade, which starts at noon at 13th and Locust streets and winds through the Gayborhood, then east on Market Street toward the festival site. Once at Penn’s Landing, jewelry designer and Halloween ball host Henri David will take over and keep things lively as the master of ceremonies. The St. Thomas Gospel Choir will kick things off with what is sure to be a rousing rendition of the unofﬁcial gay national anthem, Dena Underwood’s “I Am What I Am.”

Choir director Waltier Blocker said Frannie Price, Philly Pride executive director, approached him about performing at this year’s festival. “She has known me from doing some things with Peter Nero at the Kimmel Center every year,” he said. “She asked me on the street about singing for the event and I thought it would be a great idea.” He added that performing at Philly Pride will be a ﬁrst for the choir, but it has performed at LGBT functions before. “We have sung for a commitment ceremony for one of our choir members a few years ago, as well as for the William Way [LGBT] Center,” he said. “So it’s not a regular thing, but we just look at it as another ministry opportunity, and we’ll sing anywhere.” A number of musical acts will keep the energy ﬂowing throughout the day. The

Philadelphia Marching Band is scheduled to make an appropriately boisterous performance. Singer-songwriter, dance artist and Philadelphia transplant Daniel Gray will make a stop at Philly Pride as part of his “Return of the Club Kids” tour. Philly Pride’s perennial out poprock band Betty, returns to ratchet up the midday excitement. Peter Danzig and Amie Robidoux from Quince Productions’ “Full House,” as well as Ya Ya Delight (Ms. Philly Gay Pride 2009) and Brittany Lynn, will appear throughout the day to keep things campy and upbeat. And all of that revelry is just around the festival’s main stage. The dance area features the clubpacking DJ skills of Maria V and twostepping with June Bromley. Families can take in kid-friendly activities in the festival Family Zone,

sponsored by Mountain Meadow Summer Camp and Philadelphia Family Pride. Of course, everyone is invited and encouraged to visit the PETCO-sponsored Pet Zone, where, if inspiration takes hold, one might adopt a new four-legged best friend. A shuttle for those unable to walk the entire parade route to the festival site runs all day courtesy of Delaware River Waterfront Corp. and Philly Pride Presents. The shuttle starts at Locust Street between 13th and Juniper and loops back and forth from the festival main entrance, making stops in the Gayborhood at 13th and Locust, 12th and Locust and 12th and Spruce. For more details on Philly Pride and a full list of participants and sponsors, visit www.phillypride.org. ■ — Larry Nichols

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JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Out rocker mom glams it up on reality show By Larry Nichols PGN Staff Writer “I never thought in a million years I’d be chosen,” Sandy Young said about being one of 10 ﬁnalists competing on the second season of TV Land’s reality show “She’s Got The Look.” The openly lesbian rock singer and mother is up against nine other women over 35 for a chance to win a modeling contract, a photo spread in SELF Magazine and $100,000. Being on the show is, in some ways, a vindication for Young, as she grew up in the small town of Utica, N.Y., and spent 10 years of her life in an abusive marriage. “He would put down every part of my body,” she said. “Being insecure from that, going on to be on this show is just a dream come true.” Young said she hopes her visibility on the show will allow her to reach other women in similar situations. “I would really like to be a spokesperson for women that are in the closet, women that are a little bit older, or younger for that

matter, and they’re too afraid to come out because of a family situation,” she said. “We all know that family is the hardest to tell. Friends are more accepting. I know coming from where I’ve been that you can deﬁnitely feel alone. I would love the opportunity to reach the one person that was in the same shoes as myself and change that person’s life and be like, ‘Yes, I can get the strength to do it.’ I didn’t come out until I was 30.” Young said that living in a small town and having a conservative family were two of the reasons she stayed in the closet for so long, but eventually she realized she was miserable. “I married someone because I thought that’s what society expected and I was feeling insecure,” she said. “It came to a point where I reached 30 and I

to Brooklyn, where she has lived for the last three years, and is currently the lead singer for the band WhoButShe. “It’s something I’m very passionate about,” she said. “I’m very driven. I believe that people should pursue everything with everything they have and follow their dreams.” Besides becoming a singer, Young also has dreamt of becoming a model. “When I was young, I kind of thought about SANDY YOUNG Photo: Mandy Dembach modeling and put it off,” she said. “I came down was like, ‘What am I doing to my here for music and just kind life? I’m not being true to myself. of fell into modeling. I absolutely You only have one life. You love it. I love being in front of the have to do this.’ I just decided camera. I love it down here. The to change everything around and culture is different. I never felt I’m much happier now. My kids like I fit in all my life living in a are a lot happier because kids are small town.” very smart and intuitive. They Young may have felt right at definitely know if you’re happy home in Brooklyn, but when she and they can definitely see that first stepped onto the set of “She’s I’m happy now. That’s ultimately Got The Look,” she said she again what they want for me.” felt out of place. Luckily for her, Young eventually relocated she quickly got over it.

“When I first saw the other contestants, I was quite frankly a little scared because I felt like I didn’t fit in,” she said. “I look young for my age. I remember showing up in skinny jeans and combat boots. I felt awkward and out of place, but once I got to know the contestants, the majority of them were really sweet and they had so many different stories to them.” She also said she was happy the show wasn’t trying to be as catty and outrageous as other reality competitions. “I think that it’s done very tastefully,” she said. “I definitely like the whole theory behind it: women that are older. I think they should embrace everything about them. I think older women have more to offer because they’ve lived through real-life experiences and that’s beauty in itself.” “She’s Got The Look” airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on TV Land. For more information, visit www.tvland.com/originals/ shesgotthelook. ■ Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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Gay theater festival soldiers on through tough times By Larry Nichols PGN Staff Writer Like most of us, the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival is feeling the pinch in this struggling economy. But despite the hurdles, the organizers of the annual LGBT theater showcase have still managed to pull together an entertaining and thoughtprovoking lineup, which runs through June 27. Matthew Cloran, the festival’s artistic director and co-founder, said the economic climate has definitely had an effect on the shows that were sought. “I think we really focused on plays that reflected our mission to do quality shows, as well as bring an audience in,” he said. “It was much easier to go through what we were thinking and say we really want to put people in the seats. Before, we would take artistic chances knowing that it might not necessarily fill the seats, but we felt really strongly about the story, even if only 50 people saw the show.” Cloran also said the festival’s slimmer coffers mean he’s taking on more duties this year than in

and his family. Listening the past, directing two productions. to the music, it was like “I usually direct one,” having flashbacks in a he said. “My passion is very cool and cathartic directing. But again, as a way. I remembered the budgetary thing, I chose wonderful things about both of them because I felt it and the difficult things. that I could do it.” Anybody who is my Cloran is directing the generation in the ’70s and Philadelphia premieres of ’80s who were coming out, both “Bare: A Pop Opera” there was a lot of that being and “Friends are Forever.” afraid to come out with our The latter follows a group early relationships. What I of gay couples who are really love about ‘Bare,’ humorously tested when besides the great music, indiscretions and secrets is that it not only broaches JOHN JARBOE (LEFT) PLAYS JASON AND are unexpectedly exposed. this relationship between NICHOLAS PARK PLAYS PETER IN Cloran described the the two young males, but “BARE: A POP OPERA” production as fun and lowit’s also a really cool piece maintenance. about being outside of the attached to the other play he’s “We don’t have to do any super- directing, “Bare: A Pop Opera,” cliques.” The most challenging and lifting in terms of sitting down the musical story of two gay and discussing the script,” he said. students trying to figure out how abstract production on the festival “The characters’ motivations are to express their love for each this year is bound to be “And Baby pretty clear cut. Our goal with other during their senior year at a Makes Seven” by award-winning lesbian playwright Paula Vogel, ‘Friends are Forever’ is to make it Catholic high school. as fun as possible for the audience. “It really hit me that this was my and directed by openly gay actor It’s a delightful little piece. I call story,” Cloran said. “When I was Daniel Student. The story centers it ‘Sex and the City’ meets ‘Queer a high-school senior, I fell in love on a lesbian couple awaiting the As Folk’ with a dash of ‘The with my best friend. I very much arrival of their newborn child, but Women’ thrown in. I really think wanted to make the relationship first they must rid their crowded that description captures the play public, but he was incredibly apartment of their three imaginary and what it’s really about.” frightened of that and sacred of children. The play questions how Cloran is more emotionally the ramifications both with school people create a family when the

boundaries between illusion and reality, friendship and love, female and male, can be so ﬂuid. Cloran said he has wanted to get a Vogel play into the festival for some time, and that this play in particular ﬁts the bill this year. “We wanted to do a Paula Vogel play, and then this year we were looking for something where a lesbian couple was involved and we were also looking for something that has a small cast,” he said. “I really like the play. I think it makes some interesting comments about building families. But one of my favorite moments in the piece is what it says in the end: You give something up when you go after something like this, but also you get something, and sometimes you sort of have to experience that loss as real. It looks at creating families like this in a pragmatic sort of way in this abstract framework.” The Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival runs through June 27. For productions, theaters and show times, visit www.pgltf.org. ■ Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.

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CDs

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Larry Nichols

Women rock out on striking summer releases Tori Amos Abnormally Attracted To Sin Universal Republic It sounds like a certain red-headed pianist/goddess has been listening to Portishead. Tori Amos’ fan base is so dedicated to her as an artist that she can pretty much get away with anything short of venturing into hip-hop or heavy metal. “Abnormally Attracted To Sin” does get

PGN

adventurous in a few spots, but there are many moments that sound like Amos is trying to keep her core constituency happy with spare piano-driven siren songs, like “Mary Jane” and “Ophelia.” However, it’s Amos’ exploration of trippy textures that really surprises and holds this collection of songs together. “ G i v e , ” “Starling” and the title track are awash

PGN

with spacey sounds that gel perfectly with Amos’ seductive voice. Amos adapts to rock songs in ﬁne fashion as well, with commanding organs holding down the pulsing thump of “Strong Black Vine” and synths augmenting the fuzzed-out abandon that is “Police Me.” Some tracks seem more by-thenumbers that others. With all the surprises on the album, songs like

PGN

“Welcome to England” and “500 Miles” seem bland by comparison. But those are just minor disappointments on a record that, for the most part, is a listener’s delight. Girl in a Coma Trio B.C. Blackheart Records Girl in a Coma deﬁnitely shows some artistic growth on its

sophomore release. Not that the band’s debut album wasn’t great, but “Trio B.C.” ﬁnds Girl in a Coma performing more assuredly and digging deeper into its varied musical inﬂuences. The Texas-based punk band’s Southwestern roots are showing — and shine a lot brighter on this release right out of the gate with the jangling slide-guitar-drenched “BB.” That vibe carries over in spectacular fashion on songs like the atmospheric “El Monte” and the poppy “Trail.” But Girl in a Coma isn’t about to let you forget that it’s a punk band. This record is peppered with blistering rock tracks, like “Static Mind,” “Pleasure and Pain” and

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

“Baby Boy.” It’s on the harderrocking tracks that the most notable upgrade in the band’s sound is undeniably apparent. Nina Diaz’s guitar-playing makes the most of the space given to her, and she really brings it home with riffs that are alternatively beautifully lush and ferocious. With “Trio B.C.,” Girl in a Coma deﬁnitely cements its status as a force to be reckoned with. Peaches I Feel Cream XL Records Who the hell needs subtlety and metaphors when Peaches makes her blend of blunt, in-yourface electro fury so damn funky? Peaches isn’t showing any

PGN

D IRECTORY A DS ( definitely not your directory assistance of the twentieth century)

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

sign of mellowing out or backing down from her overtly sexual and gender-blurring exploits on her latest album. If you are familiar with her previous efforts like “Fatherfucker” or “Impeach My Bush” (and really, everybody should have her nowclassic anthemic single “Fuck The Pain Away” on his/her iPod), the shock value of her all-up-in-thatass bravado has probably worn off, but Peaches is still one hell of an entertainer and ready to kick some booty. S o n i c a l l y, this album is all over the place, but manages to work so well in the process with its varying degrees of aggression and sweaty sexiness. She successfully

borrows some hip-hop pop swagger (with some help from out rapper Shunda K, who really should have Peaches make beats for her more often) on “Billionaire.” Gwen Stefani should be green with envy wishing she had written a line as naughtily funky as “fuck you like a billionaire” during her solo career. The title track, the ultralow-frequency “Take You On” and the Teutonic disco of “Lose You” all sound like the gifted techno-pop spawn of Daft Punk and Goldfrapp. All the tracks on “I Feel Cream” are good, if not great. But Peaches is at her best when she’s making asses shake. To that end, songs like the pulsating “Serpentine”

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and the rocking “Show Stopper” have more than enough bootybouncing power to make this whole collection worth the effort. The Sounds C ro s s i n g The Rubicon New Line Swedish electro-rock group The Sounds definitely sound like a band that has something to prove on its latest effort. The new-wave-influenced rock is solid enough that they don’t have to venture too far from the formula to get a listener hooked, especially when they rock out better than The Killers from the album opener, “No One Sleeps When I’m Awake,” right through the first half of the album.

But they do stretch their creative legs on “Rubicon,” and it makes the collection of songs that much better. Bisexual singer Maja Ivarsson gives a particularly authoritative performance on the faux-rap, rocking swing of “Beatbox.” The spacey and eclectic title track is a frontrunner for best song on the album. Elsewhere, the group gives Coldplay a run for its altrock money with the whimsicalsounding “Home Is Where Your Heart Is” and the strangely alluring instrumental “Goodbye Freddy.” The Sounds’ electronic sheen and punkish intensity could easily get lost in the crowd in less-capable hands, but this group continues to have more that enough verve to catapult it to superstar status. ■ Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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Queer punk pioneer to deliver laughs in Philly

Representing Quality Original Artwork by 20 Area Artists Permanent home of the Bruce Murray Collection of Philadelphiana and Vintage Baseball Photographs.

By Larry Nichols PGN Staff Writer

TWENTY-TWO GALLERY Hours: Weds.-Sun. Noon - 6 pm Opening Receptions on the “Second Friday” of each month

236 S. 22nd St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-772-1911

www.twenty-twogallery.com

PGN

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

We love to get picked up.

“There’ll be buckets and knives. We’ll be talking about fatherhood, lesbian legacies and the mystery of the purple dick — all kinds of entertaining items.” Lynn Breedlove, describing her upcoming show June 13 at Tritone, has our complete and undivided attention. And why wouldn’t she? The out performer has made a career of being an outspoken and creative voice for the queer and trans community, whether it was fronting one of the first dykepunk bands, Tribe 8, writing for film projects or performing and producing comedy/spoken-word shows. S/he is also an acclaimed author whose autobiographical novel, “Godspeed,” was turned into a multi-media solo show that has toured the country. “I’ve used comedy since I was writing songs with Tribe 8 to get people to open their heart and mind and accept crazy ideas they would not normally want to think about,” Breedlove said of her long and productive career as a performer. “Or to just rearrange how they think about stuff they’re used to thinking about in a certain way. This show, like my last show, is about gender and being transgender and not doing a medical transition — not using surgery or hormones to transition — and how it is for me, for my community and for the world.” Anyone who has performed as a musician and a spokenword artist can tell you they can be an exercise in extremes, especially when you’re trying to get a message across. Breedlove said both have their perks and drawbacks. “They can understand the words better,” s/he said about the spoken-word performances. “Back in the Tribe 8 days, they had to buy the CD if they wanted to know what I was saying. I feel like audiences receive comedy and theater and spoken word in a different way because they do have that extra level of words and the other thing is more visceral. You’re onstage, you’re raging, you’re naked, there’s rubber dicks flying around and everyone is like, ‘Woo hoo!’ But this is more

LYNN BREEDLOVE Photo: Ace Morgan

of an intellectual experience. Your brain is more engaged.” Breedlove also said s/he could never pick one form of performance or expression as a favorite over another, as both had a profound impact on his/her life from an early age. “It’s hard to choose,’ s/he said. “I’ve got to say that when I was 5, I got my first record and it was The Beatles. It was from Germany and America didn’t even know about The Beatles yet. I was doing air guitar in the mirror and I wanted to grow up and be in a band. When I was 8, I was in my first theatrical thing, but my first skit actually made people laugh and that was fuckin’ music to my ears. So when I was a kid in the early 1960s, my dad would drive around with comedians on the radio like Flip Wilson and Don Rickles. I was like, oh my God. They just say shit and then people laugh. That is so amazing. I want to do that. And then writing, when I’m done writing something that I know is good, it’s just like getting off stage and knowing that you nailed it. It’s like a good fuck. I need a cigarette. I shot my wad. Good stuff. So I can’t choose.” There’s no doubt Breedlove’s work with Tribe 8, along with other out punk bands like Pansy Division and Team Dresch, paved the way, making success possible for out rock and punk musicians today. “I think Peaches can charge around on stage with a rubber dick, get a blow job and chop it off like I used to do and have a whole bunch of straight people

into it and make a million bucks because there is more acceptance,” s/he said. “There’s genderfuck and people of all kinds of genders and sexualities [saying], ‘OK, let’s go rock out to this hot bitch,’ or whatever those guys are thinking. I saw The Gossip in Paris and most of the audience was soccer-fan white boys who couldn’t understand what these dykes were doing in the pit. They were there to see Beth Ditto. That’s pretty fuckin’ awesome.” Breedlove added that the press, both gay and mainstream, is more accepting of queer and trans artists than it was in the 1990s. “At any year in our career, you could say we were hated by some group,” s/he said. “We didn’t let boys in the pit. ‘Oh, you don’t like boys. Manhaters!’ ‘No, we just don’t want you to put your elbow in some little girl’s eye because you’re moshing your ass off and weigh 200 pounds. Go in the back.’ There’s a lot more trans visibility in the music scene now, and lesbian magazines like Curve are always trying to write articles about trans relationships, art and the scene. I do feel that we as a community are making a greater effort to look at what each group under the unpronounceableacronym-umbrella are up to.” Lynn Breedlove performs “Confessions of a Poser” at 9:30 p.m. June 13 at Tritone Bar, 1508 South St. For more information, visit wwwlynnbreedlove.com or call (215) 545-0475. ■ Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Ms. Behavior

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS ®

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Meryl Cohn

You can’t rape a willing partner Dear Ms. Behavior: My most recent dating situation ended in disaster. I dated Jodi for a few months; we liked each other a lot and the sex was great. I loved the fact that she’d just go for it, and do nearly anything, anywhere. She’d whisper nasty fantasies in my ear, and it really worked for me. The problem occurred the last time we saw each other. As things were getting heated, she got on top of me and whispered, “I’m going to rape you.” I flipped out and told her to get off me. I left her house, and we haven’t talked since then. I know why I flipped out. I, like all women, have horrible associations to the word “rape.” I knew Jodi wouldn’t have hurt me, but my negative reaction was out of my control. Weirdly, ever since then, I’ve fantasized about Jodi raping me. Practically every night, before I go to sleep, I envision her holding me down and forcing me to have sex with her. I feel like a hypocrite. I can’t reveal my confusion to her, because we’re apparently not speaking. I’m embarrassed about my behavior, but I’m also interested in seeing her again and maybe bringing her fantasy to life. Can I fix this without seeming like a loser? — Shocked Dear Shocked: Yes, rape is a strong word, but as you’ve realized, rape is only rape when you’re not willing. Your current fantasy is not really about rape; it’s about being sexually overpowered by someone you like and with whom you want to have sex. When Jodi whispered in your ear, she unleashed your desire to give sexual control to someone you trust. That may be why your initial reaction was so powerful; getting in touch with a secret yearning can be quite threatening.

Try writing down your fantasies so that they’re not hidden deep inside of you. Having a special place for exploring your desire may help you feel more comfortable. Now that you understand your reaction and you realize that Jodi stumbled upon an erotic nerve, you can either walk away having learned something about yourself, or you can see if Jodi wants to give it another try. Call her or e-mail her and tell her that you regret ﬂipping out and that you’ve been thinking about her. If she agrees to meet you, simply explain what happened. If that goes well, ask her if she’s still willing to carry out her threat.

Dear Ms. Behavior: My former boyfriend and I were considered “domestic partners” through my employer and he was covered through my health-insurance policy. When we broke up, he moved out with the understanding that he’d remain on my policy until he found new insurance. (COBRA coverage would have been too expensive.) Now several months have passed and Paul doesn’t seem to be looking very hard for new health insurance. Although it doesn’t cost me anything, Paul annoys me and I don’t like having him on my policy. Meanwhile, my best friend wants me to get Paul off the policy

so that he can get the insurance beneﬁts. Should I do it? — Domestically Unpartnered Dear Domestically Unpartnered:

If you’re pissed at Paul, can’t you just snub him when you see him or pee on his prized rose bush? It’s one thing to express annoyance or hostility toward an ex; it’s quite another to dump him off your policy without warning, leaving him uninsured.

Tell Paul to get moving on ﬁnding insurance and give him a reasonable deadline (say, perhaps, three months) by which point you’ll discontinue his coverage on your policy. It

may, in any case, be fraudulent to keep him on your coverage when you’re no longer domestic partners. It’s also fraudulent to pretend your close friend is your domestic partner, and may be grounds for your insurer to terminate your coverage. Your safest plan is cutting Paul loose after a few months, and then keeping your insurance to yourself until you ﬁnd yourself a new man to domesticate. ■ Meryl Cohn is the author of “‘Do What I Say’: Ms. Behavior’s Guide to Gay and Lesbian Etiquette.” E-mail her at MsBehavior@aol.com or visit www.msbehavior.com.

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Girl in a Coma’s roots are showing on new album By Larry Nichols PGN Staff Writer It’s a rare feat when a young upand-coming band can follow up an impressive debut album with a superior second album, but Girl in a Coma has done just that with sophomore effort “Trio B.C.” The trio, featuring singer/ guitarist Nina Diaz, her sister Phanie on drums and openly lesbian bass player Jenn Alva, burst onto the national scene out of San Antonio in 2007 with their debut, “Both Before I’m Gone,” on Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records. Soon after, the group was tearing it up on the road on the gay-friendly True Colors Tour and punk-credible Warped Tour. They also found themselves opening for the varied likes of Social Distortion, Tegan and Sara, Morrissey and The Pogues. Phanie Diaz said performing in front of so many different audiences had its ups and downs. “We had a lot of fun with Tegan and Sara,” she said. “There were no rules and they were down to earth. We could do what we want. With Morrissey, it was very intimidating. For some reason, the Morrissey crowd is very particular. It was a challenge every night to win them over. He had a lot of rules. You couldn’t go into certain sections. It was very respectful, which is fine. It’s Morrissey. He can do that.” From the sound of the new album, all that roadwork paid off. “Trio B.C.” finds the band digging deep into its Texas-bred influences. “We recorded it near El Paso,” Phanie said. “We did it on a pecan ranch and it’s really cool. It’s got that Texas vibe to it. We wrote a lot of bluesy, rockabilly songs for this record. We felt very at home at that studio, so I would think it would reflect us more.” Phanie added the group’s desire to reflect more Texas culture, as well as its Latin background, inspired the album’s title and artwork, which was illustrated by artist Shizu Salamando. “We were having trouble coming up with the album cover at first,” Phanie said. “At first we were going to do, literally, a photo of our grandfather playing in his band. The album is named after a

PGN

band that he has in the 1950s. I found a photo of him playing the drums with the drumhead saying ‘Trio B.C.’ But it just didn’t feel right. It wasn’t working. Shizu had done artwork for the ‘Their Cell’ video of Nina on these handkerchiefs. We really liked her work. She is very involved in the Latino community and drawing the way Latinos live. So we thought she could kind of capture it. We gave her a picture of ourselves and told her to draw us the way we are. It’s very real. That’s the reason we chose her.” Another nod to the group’s Latin roots on the new album is “Ven Cerca,” the ﬁrst song Girl in a Coma recorded in Spanish. Phanie said she hopes the band will someday perform in Spanishspeaking countries. “Eventually we want to go to

Mexico,” she said. “We get a lot of fan mail from people who want us to come down and play. We’d love to get down there.” Jett produced two songs on the new record (“Vino” and “Joannie In The City”), but Phanie said having a rock goddess at the studio controls didn’t make the band alter its artistic course. “She gets us and we get along great,” she said. “She’s kind of like a big sister and a mentor. She sees what we’re trying to do and she’s constantly telling us how we remind her of how she was with The Runaways and growing up with them. To us, it’s a huge compliment. I don’t feel that when she came in to do those two songs that she changed anything or made anything different out of what we normally do.” For this round of touring,

Phanie said the group will top the bills they play on more often. “We’re playing two or three festivals on this tour, but we’re mainly focusing on headlining ourselves and getting the record exposed,” she said. “Toward the end of the year, we’re trying to jump back on some support dates with some bigger acts. It’s pretty much going to be the same routine that we did last year — another two years of touring.” Girl in a Coma performs at 8 p.m. June 17 at The Khyber, 56 Second St. For more information, visit www. girlinacoma.com or call (215) 238-5888. ■ Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.

GIRL IN A COMA’S PHANIE DIAZ (FROM LEFT), NINA DIAZ AND JENN ALVA Photo: Salvador Ochoa

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Q Puzzle “She’s Got the Beat” Across

1. Is unlike Dorian Gray 5. Band of 29-Across 10. Azaria of “The Birdcage” 14. Disney, e.g. 15. Illusory painting genre 16. Teheran’s country 17. Feminizing tail 18. Excitement 19. Old Italian money 20. With 44-Across, song by 5Across 23. Summer TV offering 24. ‘50s idol Hunter 25. Sitcom actress Meyers 28. Cookbook meas. 29. Pop icon Carlisle 33. An arm and a leg 35. One in a fairy tale threesome 36. London lavatories 37. On ___ with 38. Walter portrayed by Danny

Kaye 40. “My Life in High Heels” writer Anderson 41. “Let ___!” 42. Olympics chant word 43. Where priests come together 44. See 20-Across 46. “QAF” network 48. Before, once 49. Cole Porter’s “___ Love You?” 50. Optimist’s words 52. With 66-Across, TV show of 29-Across 58. Carpet layer’s calculation 59. Nuts 60. Lily Tomlin’s “A Prairie ___ Companion” 62. Seamen 63. Stand next to Cassat 64. Morales of “La Bamba” 65. Loads 66. See 52-Across 67. Staying power, in “Variety”

Down

1. Great service from Mauresmo 2. Postpunk movement 3. One-named designer 4. Former Minnesota state senator Allan 5. Tammy Baldwin’s pages, e.g. 6. Speak freely 7. MacLeod of “The Love Boat” 8. Shaft output 9. Game plan 10. Jetho or Jethrine Bodine 11. Aida solo 12. Undercover crack investigator 13. Trick joint, maybe 21. Doctors, doggy-style 22. Compadre 25. You must remember this 26. Mature, as fruit 27. PR concern 29. What you put in a stallion’s mouth 30. Nary a soul 31. Lesbian family’s anonymous “dad” 32. Broadway whisper 34. Episode of “All My Children,” e.g. 35. Community school org. 38. Pirate ship revolts, e.g. 39. Language suffix 43. Last year’s frosh 45. Rimbaud’s king 46. Black eye 47. Monopoly purchases 50. Michael Landon’s “ ___ Teenage Werewolf” 51. Merman of Broadway fame 52. What a computer may spit out 53. Asian inland sea 54. Emperor played by Charles Laughton 55. Swarm member 56. Hoover hookup that sucks 57. Web info source 61. Ice in Ulm

SOLUTION

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

Professional Portraits “Everyone can afford an interior designer.” So says Joseph M. Matthews 3d, model, business owner and all-around good guy. “Most people have the idea that you have to be rich to use an interior designer. They think that unless you make over $200,000 a year, you have to do it all yourself.” But according to the owner of Matthews Interior Design, working with a designer might actually save you money, as he can get items for cost, not to mention the beneﬁt of working with a design professional. A board member of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund, Matthews is also the chair for “Toy,” the annual holiday toy drive that raises funds for DVLF and collects toys for kids living with HIV. Mark your calendars early for this event, Dec. 4 at the Marketplace Design Center. PGN: You’ve made a career modeling as an “All-American” guy. Where are you originally from? JM: I was born about 20 minutes east of Indianapolis, Ind., and grew up on a private farm. It was for family use only with cows, pigs, chickens, roosters, horses, etc. PGN: Any siblings? JM: My parents got divorced when I was about 18 months old, so we had one of those, “Yours, Mine and Ours” families. Combined, I have seven siblings: With me, that’s eight. I pretty much lived 50 percent of the time with my father in the middle of a cornﬁeld in New Palestine, Ind., and 50 percent of the time with my mother in a small town in Pennsylvania called Beaverdale. PGN: What were you like as a kid? JM: I was always very sensitive. I was very loving and a huge mama’s boy! Day-to-day life at the farm was cultivating grain, rototilling potatoes and cleaning stalls. I knew things could only get better. I had a lot of big dreams even as a kid. PGN: Are you an animal person, or was it just for necessity on the farm? JM: I consider myself an animal person. We had the animals that were for farm use and for sustenance, but we also had dogs and cats and horses. I’ve always had

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Suzi Nash

animals around. I have a retriever now named Jordan and a cat named Stella. PGN: What were some of the fun things you did? JM: I loved helping my grandmother bake pies. I also loved three-wheeling and dirt-bike riding. In the wintertime, we would hook up a toboggan to the threewheeler and go down these steep inclines. It was an interesting balance of “hetero” off-roading activities and my quieter pursuits at home. My mother had some health problems, so if she and my father had to go into town, I would take care of the house. While they were away, I would thoroughly redecorate the house. I was only 8 or 10 years old and I loved it. PGN: And was milking a cow the closest you got to being a heterosexual? JM: [Laughs.] That, and shoveling horseshit. PGN: When did you come out? JM: Not until I was in my 20s. Living in Beaverdale wasn’t too bad, but the time I spent in Indiana was rough. I lived there with my father when I was really young and again in high school. It was an extremely racist area. I think if I’d tried to come out there I would have been the next Matthew Shepard; it was that bad. To give you an example, the Ku Klux Klan owned the land that the school was built on and when they sold it to the school, it was with the stipulation that African Americans be barred from attending. And the school upheld the policy. I attended the school with a bunch of John Deere-hat-wearing racists that were still into cross burning in people’s yards. It was awful. Our school mascot was a dragon, as in Grand Dragon. PGN: So how did you manage to stay open-minded with such bigotry around you? JM: My grandmother was a very loving person. But I think a big thing that helped me was that in high school, I used to DJ. I used to travel around to different schools and events, so I got exposure to all sorts of people. I made a lot of different friends from different communities — African American, Asian, Hispanic. Of course, I

was also struggling with my own sexuality, which made me feel an outsider status even though I kept it hidden. I certainly didn’t know anyone else who was gay. I didn’t think there were any gay people in Indianapolis! It was unheard of. But the most important reason why I didn’t fall into the bigotry around me is because I didn’t have hate in my heart. It wasn’t a natural feeling to make fun of people. PGN: Did you face the bigotry yourself? JM: I obviously wasn’t out, but everyone could still tell. I was called faggot and other derogatory names. Some of the guys called me Lamar, who was the black, gay character from “Revenge of the Nerds,” and on a number of occasions I got jumped and beaten up at parties. Back then, there was nothing to do about it, I certainly couldn’t call the police in that area. Funny thing is, I look back at my yearbook and I was voted “Best Dressed,” “Best Looking” and “Best Dancer,” yet still had to deal with that stuff. Go ﬁgure. PGN: So when you came out it must have been quite a change, from outcast to new kid on the block. JM: Yeah, I was 21 and a nice looking corn-fed naïve country boy, so I was a bit like meat on a hook! PGN: Well, you’ve made it work for you. You’ve had quite a modeling career. JM: I’ve been lucky enough to do it for over 16 years now. I’ve done a lot of runway for Tommy Hilﬁger, J Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch, anyone looking for the “All American” look. I’ve haven’t done a lot of the glamour Gucci, Armani-type of jobs. Ironically, I’ve done a lot of sports campaigns for Finish Line, Foot Locker, etc. I get cast as surfer guys, etc. PGN: Are you sports-oriented? JM: I wasn’t a big sports player, though I played football my freshman year and ran track and played tennis. I love watching sports though. Being from Indiana, I’m a big basketball fan. I’m pretty good if you challenge me on any sports trivia. PGN: Modeling disaster story?

JOSEPH M. MATTHEWS 3D

JM: I was in Cosmopolitan magazine a number of times. Typically, they don’t tell you what the story is about, you just do the session. I did a photo where I was on top of a girl, kind of simulating sex, and when I got the magazine a few weeks later I saw that the article tag line was, “Every time my boyfriend and I have sex, I break out in a rash.” I couldn’t believe it: I wouldn’t have done the shoot if I’d known the subject matter. PGN: How did you end up in Philly? JM: I went to Indiana University to study marketing. But about halfway through school, I stopped and moved to Philadelphia to be closer to New York while I was pursuing my modeling career. Then I moved to New York for two years but returned to Philadelphia after 9/11. PGN: So changing gears, you are the owner of Matthews Interior Design LLC. Tell me a little about the company. JM: My ﬁrm is based upon the notion of timeless design, whether or not it’s modernist or traditional in inspiration. I

design everything from kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, the whole house and every part of it, from lighting fixtures to flooring. There really isn’t anything I won’t take on. I’ve done small makeup studios, restaurants and both commercial and residential properties. If you have clutter issues and need organizational help, I can aid you with that as well. Anything to make your home happier, more efficient and an aesthetically pleasing environment for you. PGN: I’m a “Top Designer” junkie. Which is your favorite design show? JM: I don’t watch any of them! That’s what I do all day, so if I have a minute to watch TV, I want something completely different like “24” or “Cheaters” or “Heroes.” PGN: Favorite job you’ve done? JM: I did David Adamany’s house. He is the former president of Temple University. He’s a great guy — very interesting to have a conversation with and he has an amazing art collection. It was great being able to work See PORTRAITS, Page 54

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Out choreographer, TV star ‘Knows Best’ By Larry Nichols PGN Staff Writer “I would be living next door to my family in a big farmhouse with my wife and seven children ... and probably taking care of grandkids by now.” Openly gay choreographer Glenn Douglas Packard is discussing where he would be today if his life had gone ahead as planned for him. But it didn’t go down like that and, in reality (no pun intended), Packard has worked with some huge names in the pop arena and is currently living it up in a Miami penthouse as the roommate and friend of Brooke Hogan (wrestler Hulk’s daughter) and roommate Ashley on VH1’s “Brooke Knows Best,” back for a second season this month. The 30-year-old Packard said his day-to-day life now is a far cry from his humble, not-soglamorous beginnings. “My family had other plans for me,” he said. “I’m originally from Michigan. I grew up in a really small town and my family members are farmers. My dad and mom had hoped that I would take over the family business. I was actually going to college for dairy management.” That’s right, kids: Shiver in

fear. He said dairy management. Somebody’s got to do it, but most people probably never want to know what it’s like to wake up to that job every day. And it would have been Packard if fate hadn’t intervened in calamitous fashion. “I had actually gotten in a really bad four-wheeler accident,” he said. “I almost lost my leg and broke my back. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to walk normally again. I then decided I wanted to do the one thing I always dreamt of doing and live my life the way I’d wanted to live it. So I ended up pursuing the entertainment business. I started dancing and I didn’t stop until I was in with some of the best artists in the business.” Besides getting to live in a Miami penthouse (while VH1 foots the bill), Packard also works with Brooke as her artistic director and choreographer as she tries to launch a career in music. “She’s pretty much the only artist I’m working with right now since I moved to Florida and I left the New York and L.A. scene,” he said. “As far as focusing on stage performances and recording artists, she’s the only one I’m really working with. Except recently I did choreograph something for [R&B artist]

Akon.” Since Brooke Hogan is the star of the show, naturally the action centers on her (and most likely the fallout surrounding her parents’ very messy, public and expensive divorce). But Packard said there is an episode this season in which Brooke and the world get an up-close look at him. “I end up going back to Michigan and bring back Brooke and Ashley,” he said “They see what it was like for me to live in a small town and to meet my family for the ﬁrst time. I bring my boyfriend home to meet my parents. I go home to Michigan to deal with coming out on national television and how the community, my family and exﬁancée are dealing with it.” How well both sides deal with the rural Michigan culture shock will have to wait until the episode airs. But in the meantime, Packard said he is making the

most of his posh address for as long as it lasts. “Miami is somew h e r e where I had worked before in the past,” he said. “I worked for Jimmy Buffet at one point in my career and I was artistic director and choreographer for The Chippendales. That brought me here once and I just knew that this is the one place where I wanted to live. So when I had the opportunity to do this show, I was like, ‘Hell yes, I’ll move to Miami!’” Packard also said he is focused on keeping his career moving forward.

GLENN DOUGLAS PACKARD

“I’m moving on to other things right now in my career: directing, producing, acting and stuff like that, a clothes line, a calendar,” he said. “It’s more ﬁlm and television.” “Brooke Knows Best” airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on VH1. For more information, visit www. glenndouglaspackard.com. ■ Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.

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PORTRAITS From Page 51 with such great pieces and the end result was spectacular. PGN: Your most unusual possession? JM: I have a life-size suit of armor in my living room. I’ve had it for 10 years and it almost feels like a protector to me. Finding a way to make it work with the rest of the décor is always a challenge, but everyone

who comes over loves it. Except my partner Michael!

The hardest part is making sure nothing falls through the cracks.

PGN: What’s the most difﬁcult part of owning your own business? JM: There are so many different aspects of the business that you have to juggle. You have to handle the marketing and PR, business development and networking, ordering what you need, meeting with clients, developing dealers you can rely on, taking care of bills, everything.

PGN: Mr. Designer, what are your three favorite colors? JM: Hmm ... chocolate brown, ice blue and taupe. It’s a combo that makes me happy. PGN: You came from farm area; what’s cow tipping all about? JM: Just what it sounds like. Cows sleep standing up so the idea is you sneak up on a sleeping cow and push them over. I

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

know people who have done it, but I couldn’t — I would feel awful. I would never want to frighten or hurt an animal. I don’t see the fun in it. PGN: What’s your favorite section of the museum? JM: I like the modern abstract painters. I have a friend, Ross Bleckner, who has some amazing pieces of art. His work has been featured on “Sex in the City” and he’s one of the youngest artists ever to be shown at the

Guggenheim Museum. PGN: What was your worst clothing disaster? JM: I was Jay McCarroll’s model for his submissions to “Project Runway.” For the shoot, he dressed me in these pink square cuts that were underwear, which I wore underneath a fur coat. It could have been hot, but the squares were too small so I ended up with a huge camel toe. It was crazy. PGN: How did you and Michael meet? JM: We met at a “Boys in the Country” party a few years ago and we clicked right away. We live together now and it’s one of those things where we were meant to be together. PGN: What does Michael do? JM: He publishes a trade publication, Greetings etc. PGN: Any wedding bells? JM: Yes, we’re planning to get married in New Jersey in the fall. I’ll tell you a beautiful story. We were at “A Streetcar Named Desire” at the Walnut Street Theatre and I turned to him and said, “You know, I never thought about this; should we talk about names? Hyphenating or me taking your name, or the other way around?” It had just occurred to me and he looked at me and said, “I’ve already thought it through and I am planning on taking your name. Michael Matthews has a nice ring to it.” It just really made me feel good inside that he had already thought it through and was ready to take my name. It was taking two people and making us one. ■ For more information on Matthews Interior Design, visit www.matthewsinteriordesign. com. To suggest a community member for “Professional Portraits,” write to: Professional Portraits, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 or portraits05@aol. com.

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Athlete Meet & Greet, Gay Games Cologne Q & A

Hobnob with our Community’s athletes while Tony & Addie distribute information and answer your Gay Games questions. 7-9 PM. Tavern on Camac, 243 South Camac Street. Tony: abono@csc.com

Saturday June 13

Team Philadelphia Bar Night

Team Philadelphia Athletes and Supporters serve up snacks, $4 Hoegarden Draught, and jello shots. 8 PM-1 AM. The Bike Stop, 206 South Quince Street

Sunday June 14

FINS Stroke Clinic

A technique brush up clinic for improving your backstroke. 10 AM-Noon, Friends Select School, 16th & Race. $10. Jennifer: 856-266-1195; hensell@mac.com

1 Mile Walk/Run with Pride

Join the Front Runners as they run/walk in the 1 mile timed race along the parade route. Prizes to top 3 M/F ﬁnishers. 11:45 AM SHARP. 13th and Locust. $20, $25 day of event. Mike ZuZu: phillyzu@comcast.net

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DVDs Gary M. Kramer Lesbians take over the nation Now available on DVD is “Lesbian Nation,” an excellent compilation of short films celebrating lesbian talent in front of and behind the camera. A highlight of the collection is the hour-long documentary “Lavender Limelight: Lesbians in Film.” Made in 1997 — a few years after the “new queer cinema” movement burst onto theater screens — director Marc Mauceri films his conversations with up-and-coming female filmmakers from that time. The lesbian directors are as diverse as

their ﬁlms, and clips from their documentaries, features, shorts and even experimental works are adroitly used to exemplify the points made by the interviewees. “Lavender Limelight” opens with a segment featuring Jennie Livingston, director of the landmark documentary about African-American men voguing, “Paris Is Burning.” Highly animated in the conversation, Livingston describes how she got into ﬁlmmaking and why she likes telling stories. She recalls contacting director

“CARMELITA TROPICANA”

Werner Herzog, who prompted her to make films about subjects that interest her. Livingston also describes the construction of race, gender and sexuality in her work and how these themes surrounding identity also converge in her life. In the most revealing moment, she recounts how making “Paris Is Burning,” a film about a queer subculture, pushed her to establish and declare her own sexual identity. Other interviews are equally engaging. Rose Troche, whose film “Go Fish” was a watershed release in independent queer cinema, explains how she appears at the margins in the film community, but more so because her work has experimental elements than because she is a lesbian. Likewise, Su Friedrich explains how her experimental films were not of interest to the lesbian community, and her lesbian films were not of interest to the experimental community. The filmmaker acknowledges the difficulties of matching form to content. In other segments, native Philadelphian Cheryl Dunye, the writer/director/star of “The Watermelon Woman,” talks candidly about being a black

lesbian in a white lesbian world, and Maria Maggenti, the writer/director of “The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love,” explains how making a lowbudget film helped her develop her “individual voice.” She recognizes that her film can’t be all things to all lesbians, but this interracial romance provided a film for teens to dream about finding the right partner without having to change the lover’s gender. “Lavender Limelight” will prompt audiences to watch — or rewatch — the films discussed, from Heather MacDonald’s documentary “Ballot Measure 9,” about an antigay amendment in Oregon, to Monika Treut’s classics “Virgin Machine” and “Seduction: The Cruel Woman.” The only drawback to “Lavender

FILMMAKER CHERYL DUNYE

Limelight” is that these ﬁlmmakers have not produced nearly enough work since this ﬁlm was made. See LESBIAN NATION, Page 63

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

DJ legend talks about his ‘Next’ big thing By Larry Nichols PGN Staff Writer In the ﬁckle and competitive world of DJing, anyone closing in on 30 years in business and who has worked with artists like Madonna, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Prince, Cyndi Lauper and The Pet Shop Boys has to be some kind of a legend, right? “They say that,” DJ Junior Vasquez said about his reputation. “I’m a little more humble than that. I guess, maybe so.” These days, when the out and highly sought-after DJ and producer isn’t cranking out remixes for Britney Spears or drawing crowds ready to get down in the hottest clubs all over the world, he’s hosting his own monthly residency, Freedom, at Cielo Night

“When I go to most places, they’re hiring me for the house sound, strictly New York house,” he said. “Japan is strictly New York house. I play usually for a bisexual or an asexual crowd. If I’m going somewhere and I know it’s primarily straight, I will alter my music a bit and play more high-energy music. My theory is, wherever you go, you should play at least nine things that are current and at least one or two things that you know they can sing along with. I try to stay true DJ JUNIOR VASQUEZ Photo: Liz Liguori to myself. There’s this big resurgence of early house Club in New York City. Vasquez said no matter what music that I used to play. So that’s country he’s in, most of the club- what I do.” Even with all the traveling and goers he spins for are looking for performing on his plate, Vasquez the same thing.

recently managed to release his ﬁrst studio album in seven years, “Generation Next,” a compilation of Vasquez-approved new singles by Bimbo Jones and DJ Demarko and unreleased productions by Razor N Guido, SIN and DJ Twisted Dee, among others. “It’s my ﬁrst album without any attachment to anything from the past,” he said. “It’s my own endeavor and my own new company. It’s really an album for me.” Staying on top of the game as a DJ isn’t as easy as it used to be, with modern technology fooling many into thinking that a couple of iPods and a hot selection of songs can now qualify a person to spin. Vasquez said he misses the days when vinyl records were the

weapons of choice for most DJs. “I like it when records skip,” he said. “It feels human. I don’t like the whole computer thing. It took me a while to get adjusted to CD players but now I work them like they’re machines — backwards, forwards, looping, I can still do all of that. I don’t use turntables at all anymore because I find it cumbersome to carry all of the records. I can do more with CDs. I think that the whole MP3 and laptop thing, anybody can do that. They’re playlists. I like the human side because I don’t know where I’m going with the night. I like to be spontaneous. I can’t be in the club, typing things. I’m lucky I can read e-mails. I don’t have the patience. I’m really hands-on. I move around a lot.” The decline of the mega-club scene in New York doesn’t help things either. Through the 1990s and as recently as 2002, Vasquez could draw massive numbers to his weekly residencies at the biggest dance venues in New York, like Exit, Twilo and the Palladium. But things aren’t the same around his usual stomping grounds. “The whole after-hours scene and the breaking records and playing every week was just different and they don’t have that now,” he said. “So I’ve had to adjust. I used to break records; in other words, just play and play them until they like them. It’s just not that happening anymore, which is a shame; not being able to shove it down their throats every week and teasing them with things I might be remixing that week. I’m figuring out how to do it with shorter sets, my Web site and MySpace to try to let them know what’s going on and to give them a little taste. That is the purpose of this album.” For more information on Junior Vasquez, visit www.myspace. com/officialjuniorvasquez. ■ Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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LESBIAN NATION From Page 57 The other shorts on “Lesbian Nation” are also worthwhile. “Carmelita Tropicana” shows some verve in its spirited account of the title character, a Latina performance artist/activist, who ends up sharing a jail cell with two female coconspirators and a woman who mugged her. This enjoyable romp includes an amusing musical number and some outrageous costumes as it makes its points about gender, race and sexuality. The messages are not subtle and the performances are broad, but there is an undeniable charm on display here. “Jumping the Gun” is an Australian fantasy about a woman who imagines the future of her life with a woman she met — and slept with — the night before. It’s well-executed and visually stylish. The other two shorts in this collection are full of emotion. “Little Women in Transit” captures the frustration of sharing the backseat with one’s siblings during a family road trip. The dialogue is authentic, and the rage that young “Little Women”-loving Jennie develops is justified. This black and white short will resonate with anyone who has experienced a similar reality. Rounding out the collection is “Playing the Part,” a documentary by Mitch McCabe about her inability to tell her parents that she is a lesbian. McCabe records the uneasy relationship she has with her mother, and tries on several occasions (Thanksgiving, a family visit to her at school and Christmas) to screw up the courage and confront her parents with the truth about her sexuality. While this short runs a bit long at 40 minutes, it has many poignant moments that viewers will appreciate as McCabe talks herself into — and out of — having the big discussion. McCabe expresses how difficult this is for her, and her anxiety is justified. She is jealous of her girlfriend’s relationship with her mother and fears her disclosure will make her an “outcast.” “Playing the Part” may get on the audience’s collective nerves as McCabe hems and haws about her situation, but it is ultimately satisfying because of how the filmmaker presents and ends her story. Her emotional honesty earns her both respect and sympathy. ■

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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12TH AIR COMMAND

254 S. 12th St. 215.5458088 12thair.com Multi-level bar, game room, dancing, deck

WILLIAM WAY LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER

1315 Spruce St. 215.732.2220 www.waygay.org LGBT library, archives, gallery, reading room, clubhouse, classes, peer counseling & more

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NEPTUNE LOUNGE 268 North St. 717.233.0581

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Broad St.

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Dubbs Alley

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255 S. 16th St. 215.545.4331 atticinfo@ atticyouthcenter.org Safe, supportive environment, for youth to share concerns, be themselves

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243 S. Camac St. 215.545.0900 tavernoncamac.com Piano bar, restaurant, dancing

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1220 Locust St. 215.546.6660 1320 Chancellor St. Friendly favorite 1305 Locust St. 215.735.0735 215.545.2040 1119 Locust St. sistersnightclub.com VENTURE INN Great space, 215.574.0586 255 S. Camac St. good food Lunch and dinner Restaurant, dance 215.545.8731 ﬂoor, karaoke Bar/restaurant KNOCK PURE 225 S. 12th St. 1221 St. James St. STIR LOUNGE WESTBURY 215.925.1166 1705 Chancellor St. 261 S. 13th St. 215.735.5772 info@ 215.732.2700 purephilly.com 215.546.5170 knockphilly.com After hours bar New favorite on thewestburybar.net Rittenhouse Sq. Bar/restaurant

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214 S. 12th St. 215.893.5680 brewhaha.com Outdoor seating

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ALBERT’S

CITY HALL

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

204 S. 13th St. 215.687.4929 Hair and skin studio

DANNY’S ADAM & EVE

133 S. 13th St. 215.925.5041 Adult bookstore. Video booths. 24 hours

GIOVANNI’S ROOM

1145 Pine St. 215.923.2960 giovannisroom.com One of the oldest gay bookstores in the country

P•H•A•G

1225 Walnut St. 215.627.0461 thephagshop.com Home decor, art, cards, gifts

PLEASURE CHEST

2039 Walnut St. 215.561.7480 Sensual items for men and women

SANSOM ST. CINEMA

120 S. 13th St. 215.545.9254 Adult theater. 24 hours

SANSOM ST. GYM

2020 Sansom St. 267.330.0151 sansomstreetgym.com Philly’s newest bathhouse

SCORPIO BOOKS

205 S. Juniper St. 215.525.2181 Gay erotica

SPRUCE ST. VIDEO

252 S. 12th St. 215.546.6843 Gay and Hollywood ﬁlm rentals and sales.

TLA VIDEO

1520 Locust St. 215.735.7887 tlavideo.com Gay and Hollywood ﬁlm rentals and sales

12TH ST. GYM

204 S. 12th St. 215.985.4092

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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Hot Spots NIGHTLIFE 12th Air Command 254 S. 12th St. 215.545.8088 12thair.com Multi-level bar, dancing, deck

Bar/lounge near Ritt. Sq. Tavern on Camac 243 S. Camac St. 215.545.0900 tavernoncamac.com Restaurant, piano bar w/Fri. and Sat. dance nights

Alfa 1709 Walnut St. 215.751.0201 Bar, dining and w/end brunches

Uncles Bar 1220 Locust St. 215.546.6660 Small, friendly corner bar

The Bike Stop 206 S. Quince St. 215.627.1662 thebikestop.com The city’s only leather bar

Valanni 1229 Spruce St. 215.790.9494 valanni.com Dinner & w/e brunch

Bob & Barbara’s 1509 South St. 215.545.4511 Drag night, Thurs. 10 p.m.

Venture Inn 255 S. Camac St. 215.545.8731 Bar/restaurant

Bump 1234 Locust St. 215.732.1800 Trendy bar and eatery

Thai Chef & Noodle Fusion 2028 Chestnut St. 215.568.7058 Dine in, dine out, delivery and BYOB!

Cresheim Cottage Cafe 7402 Germantown Ave. 215.248.4365 Gay-owned dining in historic building. 3rd Tuesday OUT Fluid 613 S. Fourth St. 215.629.3686 Trendy dance club off South St. Knock 225 S. 12th St. 215.925.1166 info@knockphilly.com More Than Just Ice Cream 1119 Locust St. 215.574.0586 Lunch, dinner and dessert! Pure 1221 St. James St. 215.735.5772 purephilly.com Late-night club experience Rainbow Eye 1449 N. Fifth St. 2nd ﬂoor 267.235.6045 The cornerstone to Latino Pride! Sisters 1320 Chancellor St. 215.735.0735 sistersnightclub.com Women’s bar, restaurant, dance ﬂoor, karaoke Stir Lounge 1705 Chancellor St. 215.732.2700

Westbury 261 S. 13th St. 215.546.5170 thewestburybar.net Bar/restaurant Woody’s 202 S. 13th St. 215.545.1893 woodysbar.com Multi-level bar, dancing

BUSINESSES 12th St. Gym 204 S. 12th St. 215.985.4092 Adonis Cinema 2026 Sansom St. 215.557.9319 Multi-level adult theater AIDS Thrift Store 514 Bainbridge St. 215.922.3186 Clothes, housewares, books, collectibles, etc. Alexander Inn 301 S. 12th St. 215.923.3535 www.alexanderinn.com Luxury rooms, Internet, ﬁtness center Brew HaHa! 214 S. 12th St. 215. 893.5680 brewhaha.com

Coffee, tea and seating with a great view of the ’hood Chartreuse 1200 Spruce St. 215.545.7711 www.chartreuseﬂorist.com Flowers, plants Club Body Center 1220 Chancellor St. 215.735.7671 Bathhouse near bars. 24 hrs. Cut 204 S. 13th St. 215.687.4929 Hair and skin studio Dada Rug and Gallery 204 S. 13th St. 215.687.4929 Danny’s Adam and Eve 133 S. 13th St. 215.925.5041 Gay-owned adult bookstore. Video booths. 24 hours Gables Bed & Breakfast 4520 Chester Ave. 215.662.1918 Quaint, gay-owned B&B in University City Giovanni’s Room 1145 Pine St. 215.923.2960 One of the oldest gay bookstores in the country Joe Coffee Bar 1100 Walnut St. 215.562.7384 Gay-owned. Food. Outdoor seating when warm Joe Pesce 1118 Walnut St. 215.829.4400 www.joepescerestaurant.com Sicilian-style seafood Matthew Izzo 151 N. Third St. 215.829.0606 www.matthewizzo.com Fashion, furnishings and fabulous salon Phag 1225 Walnut St. 215.627.0461 Furnishings, art, cards, unique gifts Philadelphia Java Company 518 S. Fourth St. 215.928.1811 Quaint shop off South Street. Food. Outdoor seating

The Pleasure Chest 2039 Walnut St. 215.561.7480 Sansom Street Cinema 120 S. 13th St. 215.545.9254 Adult theater near bars, 24 hrs. Sansom Street Gym 2020 Sansom St. 267.330.0151 sansomstreetgym.com Philly’s newest bathhouse Soleil 202 S. 12th St. 215.735.8786 Tanning booths and beds Spruce St. Video 252 S. 12th St. 215.546.6843 Gay and Hollywood ﬁlm rentals and sales. Supreme Bean Café 615 South St. 215.629.2250 Hipster/hippie shop on South Street Three Trees Custom Framing 722 S. Fourth St. 215.922.4533 TLA Video 1520 Locust St. 215.735.7887 tlavideo.com Gay and Hollywood ﬁlm rentals and sales

ELSEWHERE PA 704 Strawberry Café 704 N. Third St. Harrisburg 717.234.4228 Altland’s Ranch Nightclub 8505 Orchard Road Spring Grove 717.225.4479 altlandsranch.com Brownstone Cafe 412 Forster St. Harrisburg 717.234.7009 Club XS 36 W. 11th St., York, PA 717.812.1474 Diamonz 1913 W. Broad St. Bethlehem 610.865.1028 diamonz.net

Frank Jeffrey’s Hotel Washington 231-233 Bridge St. Phoenixville 610.935.8000

The Woods Campground 845 Vaugh Acres Lane Leighton 610.377.9577 thewoodscampground.com

Hillside Campgrounds Creek Road, Gibson 570.756.2007

DELAWARE

Liquid 891 891 Eisenhower Blvd., Harrisburg 717.939.1123 Neptune Lounge 268 North St., Harrisburg 717.233.0581 Nostalgia 1101 N. Ninth St., Reading 610.372.5557 Rainbow Inn at Sunbury Rt. 61 South, Sunbury 717.988.4688 Rainbow Mtn. Resort Mt. Nebo Road East Stroudsburg 570-223-8484 Scarab 724 Franklin St., Reading 610.375.7878 Secrets Business Rt. 209 East Stroudsburg 570.420.8716 Silhouette Lounge 523 Linden St., Scranton 570.344.4259 silhouettelounge.com Stallions Night Club 706 N. Third St., Harrisburg 717.232.3060 Stonewall/Moose Lounge 28 N. 10th St., Allentown 610.432.0706 stonewall-mooselounge.com Sundown Lounge 429 N. Mulberry St. Lancaster 717.392.2737

Blue Moon Restaurant 35 Baltimore Ave. Rehoboth Beach 302.227.6515 Cafe Zeus 37 Wilmington Ave. Rehoboth Beach 302.226.0400 Cloud Nine 234 Rehoboth Ave. Rehoboth Beach 302.226.1999 Restaurant, bar, dance club Frogg Pond 3 S. First St. Rehoboth Beach 302.227.2234 Lambda Rising Bookstore 39 Baltimore Ave. Rehoboth Beach 302.227.6969 Serenity by the Sea Books and Gifts 405 Rehoboth Ave. Rehoboth Beach 302.227.6818

NEW JERSEY Bounce 1102 Rt. S. 130 West Deptford 856.845.1010 bouncenightclub.net Club Atlantis 1213 Ocean Ave. Asbury Park 732.869.9700 David’s Dusk Til Dawn Café 10 S. Mt. Vernon Ave. Atlantic City 609.347.0808 x 713

The Tally Ho 201 W. Orange St., Lancaster 717.299.0661

Marquis de Lafayette 501 Beach Ave. Cape May 800.257.0432 Charming old hotel across from the beach

Twist Fox Ridge Plaza, Wilkes-Barre 570.825.7300 twistbarpa.com

Paradise 101 Asbury Ave. Asbury Park 732.988.6663

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Noble pairings at Cookery By Suzi Nash PGN Contributor One of the many deﬁnitions of “noble” is “admirable in dignity of conception, manner of expression, execution or composition.” All of these aptly apply to Noble American Cookery, 2025 Sansom St., the newest venture of successful restaurant partners Todd Rodgers, Bruno Pouget and chef Steven Cameron. The trio also owns the popular restaurant Blue in Surf City, N.J. The concept behind Noble is the idea that, in America, food is inﬂuenced by “our greatgrandmothers, our histories and our hometowns” and conceived of a mix of heritages — German, African, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Irish and others. For Noble, American cookery comes from local farms, eco-friendly

seafood and simple ingredients that maximize the natural ﬂavor of each dish. Modern and rustic at the same time, the restaurant features a 400-year-old naturally fallen bubinga-wood bar, reclaimed wide-plank hickory ﬂoors and exposed ceiling rafters. “We purchased the building that houses Noble back in 2005, because we really believe in investing in this neighborhood and developing it into a dining destination,” said Pouget. “Back in the ’70s, this area was known as Rittenhouse Village, and it was a great place to go out for a meal. Alongside neighbors such as Tinto, Melograno, Tria and Capogiro, we’d like to be a part of bringing that reputation back to this area.” The Noble experience starts outside, boasting a unique outdoor cafe with alfresco bar

seating facing into the restaurant space over a long granite counter. Inside the first floor is a long row of modern banquettes and the aforementioned bubinga bar. We were dining upstairs and quickly climbed the grand staircase to the second floor. It was awe-inspiring: As a former horse person, I almost felt as if I was ascending to a really cool hayloft, but cleaner and hipper than ours ever was. I found out later the staircase was built from reclaimed oak-barn timbers, so I must have instinctively felt the barn vibes. Three beautifully restored skylights enhanced the lighting, bouncing light off the white brick walls. In addition to restoring the dining space, Rodgers and Pouget collaborated with Cameron to create a seasonal rooftop herb garden. I didn’t get to see it, but liked the idea of the ingredients being used

in my food growing up there, reaching for the sun just above our heads. Our server, Meagan, was one of those people who was so enthusiastic about what she does that it was contagious (and not in an obnoxious way). She was so knowledgeable and took such a delight in the food, I was tempted to hand her my pen and start waiting tables for her. She started us off by recommending the Barnegat Light sea scallops ($15). Brought in from a day boat on Long Beach Island, the scallops are pan roasted and served over an avocado purée, topped with microgreens, asparagus, watercress and English peas and ﬁnished with extra-virgin olive oil. As the head chef at Blue, Cameron has already won acclaim for his culinary achievements, including a

glowing review in The New York Times that called his cuisine “far-reaching, inspired and ambitious.” In this case, the inspired part was adding a little mint to the dish. Mint is not the ﬁrst thing that comes to mind when you think of scallops, but I will now forever link them together and be sad when they are apart. My dining companion, Jim, ordered the grilled Portuguese sardines ($12). I’m not a big fan of sardines, but these looked as if they’d just hopped out of the ocean. They were deﬁnitely not the little things that come in a tin with a key. Large and grilled, they were deboned, served with a spicy mustard atop sweet-andsour vegetables and dusted with pistachio. On the table was freshly made olive bread served with a tomatoricotta spread with black pepper,

Tel: 215-925-3881 Fax: 215-925-3882 Serves Indian Royalty www.lovashindiancuise.com

236 South Street Philadelphia, PA 19147

Ask for our GF and Vegan dishes.

PGN DINING GUIDE Included every Second and Fourth week of the month.

Call Today!

Our advertising representatives:

(215) 625-8501

Greg, ext. 201 Kelly, ext. 207 Morgan, ext. 212 David, ext. 219

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

NOBLE AMERICAN COOKERY Photos: Jason Varney

salt and sun-dried tomatoes. For our main dish, Jim ordered the grass-fed braised short ribs ($29). The ribs were so tender, they could be classified as “no utensils needed,” but being as classy as we are, we did manage to keep from going at them with our bare hands (as much as we were tempted to dig in). The ribs are braised overnight in lemon, laurel and other interesting herbs and delicately placed over a rice and onion pudding with a favabean relish as the crown. I had the Alaskan black sable ($28), a thick buttery white fish similar to Chilean sea bass. The sable was prepared with a dusting of rye, caraway and pumpernickel flour and panroasted, then served over mussel chowder — a potato purée infused with mussels — and topped with a cold mussel salad

with fennel and shaved red onion. Wow! The sable was beautifully tender with a perfectly cooked light crust. The mussels were plump, fresh and ﬂavorful. For libations, before dinner I tried one of Noble’s specialty cocktails, the Alaska Man’s Luck ($11), a delightful combination of pisco, aquavit, French vermouth, St. Germain and honey. Highly recommended. As I sipped, I dreamt the Alaskan luck would be that Sarah Palin would be trapped in a cave by a big old polar bear. Not hurt, just kept out of the way ... for a long time. Rodgers carefully selected a beverage list of 25 North American wines and 25 craft beers to perfectly pair with the menu. For the meal, I chose a glass of Shooting Star ($9), a sauvignon blanc with “notes of ﬁg, melon, gooseberry and a hint

of honey with a palate of fresh grapefruit, gooseberry, tart lime and a crisp acidic finish.” I should mention that Cameron is so dedicated to environmentally sound ingredients, he often revises the menu items so they do not include fish or meats that are in danger of population depletion. At Noble, he goes out of his way to create a menu of seasonal, fresh, flavorful American fare that leans heavily toward locally grown and raised sustainable products. “I’m a little obsessed with finding extraordinary regional products and preparing them simply and perfectly,” said Cameron. “I’ve developed close relationships with local farmers and fishermen, so I have access to some very special ingredients. And I pay close attention to what the Environmental Defense Fund says about ingredients’ availability, so my guests can be confident that what they’re eating is truly a ‘green’ meal.” And green it was: The peas and asparagus that came with my scallops were so vibrant, they almost looked Photoshopped. The tastes throughout the meal were simple and fresh, but rendered interesting through Cameron’s pairings. A nice touch to the décor was the two large tomato plants growing right in the dining room. Before we wrapped things up, we made room to split a dessert. We went with the Cape gooseberry bread pudding, served slightly warmed with a rich white chocolate briôche and dotted with gooseberries, both in the pudding and on the side served as a jam. It was like something your grandmother would make — not my grandmother, but yours — if she were a really good baker. As we finished our meal, I asked our server, Meagan, what she liked most about working at Noble. In her quirky and formal way of speaking, she said she loved the fact that patrons cleaned their plates. “I have not

PAGE 67

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

NOBLE From Page 67 once, since the time we opened, taken away a plate that was not completely cleared. I have yet to see a plate leave the table with any detritus left on it. It’s astounding. I feel privileged to work here because I see ﬁrsthand all the care and attention to detail that goes into everything that’s done here. Every single plate that comes out of the kitchen is inspiring and gives me complete conﬁdence in my ability to do good job. Their attitude about the quality of the food and their philosophy of hospitality allows me to communicate effectively with the people I am serving.” We must have made Megan very happy because we certainly became members of the cleanplate club that night. ■

If You Go PGN DINING GUIDE Every 2nd and 4th week of the month

Noble 2025 Sansom St. Open for dinner nightly (215) 568-7000 www.noblecookery.com

STAIRWAY BAR Photos: Jason Varney

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PAGE 69

Rethinking pizza as health food By Jim Romanoff The Associated Press A slice of pizza from your local parlor, smothered with cheese and topped with sausage and pepperoni, is a fat-and-calorie catastrophe. Make it yourself, however, and you can end up with a relatively healthy meal. First, lighten up on the cheese. Part-skim mozzarella and other lower-fat cheeses are a great source of protein and calcium, and often have half the fat and a third fewer calories than regular versions. Supplement the lower-fat cheese with just a sprinkle of a ﬂavorful, full-fat hard cheese, such as Parmesan or pecorino. Don’t be afraid to slather on the tomato sauce. Tomatoes are loaded with antioxidants, plus they are high in ﬂavor and fat-free. If you like, you can make a white pizza sauce by pureeing roasted

garlic cloves with a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil. Vegetables are filling, loaded with nutrients and low in calories, so pile them high on your pizza. If you want a meat topping, stay away from greasy sausage and pepperoni. Consider using prosciutto, which has a satisfying, salty flavor but is less fatty. If you really want sausage, choose lower-fat turkey versions or even try vegetarian sausage crumbles, which are surprisingly tasty. You can find vegetarian sausage alongside other meat substitutes. Finally, to add lots of nutrients and dietary fiber, use a wholewheat dough to make your crust. This whole-wheat pizza dough from “Pizza: Grill it, Bake it, Love it,” by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, uses wholewheat and all-purpose white flour, so it has a little more toothiness and flavor than a standard pizza

dough. The earthier flavor of this crust stands up well to more robust flavor combinations, such as black-olive tapenade (instead of tomato sauce) with caramelized onions and feta cheese, or roasted garlic puree, roasted red peppers, arugula and a sprinkle of Gorgonzola. WHOLE-WHEAT PIZZA DOUGH Start to finish: 1 hour 40 minutes (10 minutes active) Servings: 6 3/4-cup lukewarm water (about 110 F) 2 teaspoons active dry yeast 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2-teaspoon salt 1-1/3 cups whole-wheat flour 2/3-cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting 1 tablespoon walnut, canola or vegetable oil, plus additional

for greasing In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the water, yeast, sugar and salt. Set aside for 5 minutes, or until the yeast has bubbled and foamed. If it doesn’t foam, start again with fresh yeast and check that the water isn’t too hot. If working by hand, stir both ﬂours and the oil into the yeast mixture until a soft dough forms. Lightly dust a clean, dry work surface with allpurpose ﬂour and turn the dough onto it. Knead by holding the dough with one

SLICE OF HEALTH: The earthier flavor of a whole-wheat pizza crust, with important nutrients and dietary fiber, makes for a healthier pizza that stands up to any of the more robust toppings you may want to use, such as black-olive tapenade (instead of tomato sauce) with caramelized onions and See PIZZA, Page 71 feta cheese. AP Photo: Larry Crowe

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JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Save cash on pizza by doctoring up a frozen pie By Jim Romanoff The Associated Press A takeout pizza is an incredible convenience, but by the time you add tip and extra toppings, it can take out a chunk of cash. For those nights when you want the convenience of takeout but the affordability of homemade, the best bet is to doctor up a frozen cheese-and-tomato pizza. This lets

you add as many and whatever toppings you like, no tip needed. Most grocers offer dozens of high-quality frozen pizzas. A 12inch pie can cost as little as $5. Add two or three of your own toppings and some seasonings from your pantry, and you’ll have a hot, gourmet pizza for about $7. You’ll spend at least twice that at most national pizza chains.

POTATO, HAM AND HERB PIZZA Start to ﬁnish: 25 minutes Servings: 4 1 tablespoon olive oil 1-1/2 cups frozen diced hash browns 1/3-cup chopped ham or Canadian bacon 1 teaspoon dried oregano, rosemary or Italian herb blend Salt and ground black pepper, to taste 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 12-inch frozen tomato-andcheese pizza Heat the oven according to package directions for the pizza. In a large skillet over high, heat the oil. Add the hash browns and cook, stirring often, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add

POTATO, HAM AND HERB PIZZA AP Photo: Larry Crowe

the ham or Canadian bacon and herbs. Cook for another minute. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the pizza, then top that with the potato mixture, then the remaining cheese. Bake according to the package directions. Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to

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CHICKEN, OLIVE AND CHILI PIZZA Start to ﬁnish: 25 minutes Servings: 4 1 cup shredded or ground cooked chicken (ground beef or pork could be substituted) 1 teaspoon canola oil 1 teaspoon taco or chili seasoning 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 12-inch frozen tomato-andcheese pizza 12 pitted black or green olives, halved 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped canned or jarred jalapeño or green chilies Heat the oven according to package directions for the pizza. In a small bowl, toss the chicken with the oil and taco (or chili) seasoning mix. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the pizza, then top that with the chicken mixture, then the remaining cheese. Top with olives and chilies. Bake according to the package directions. Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 694 calories; 301 calories from fat; 34 g fat (16 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 84 mg cholesterol; 59 g carbohydrate; 41 g protein; 3 g ﬁber; 1,690 mg sodium. ■

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PAGE 71

Look beyond the pizza parlor for topping ideas By Michele Kayal The Associated Press Pizza is one of those chameleon foods: It can be whatever you want it to be. But most people — even chefs — never reach beyond the cheese, pepperoni, vegetables and red sauce. “If I’m going to eat pizza as a meal, it’s pepperoni all the way,” says Christine Keff, the chef and owner of Seattle’s acclaimed Flying Fish restaurant. “Don’t be putting anything else on there.” But that didn’t stop Keff and other award-winning chefs, bakers and mixologists from offering delicious, unconventional ideas about America’s comfort food. And Father’s Day offers the perfect opportunity to experiment. Use the crust as a “platter” and heap it with fried oysters or even salad. Treat it more like a pastry shell and layer it with fresh peaches or berries and cream. Or toss the dough on the grill for a manly pizza Dad can be proud of. SALAD AND DESSERT If the Father’s Day belt from last year has gotten too tight, pastry expert and cookbook author Dorie Greenspan offers a departure from heavy, gooey, meat-lover’s pizza. Salad Pizzas: Brush the dough with olive oil, dust it with slivered garlic, Parmesan cheese and sea salt. Bake it, then top with: — arugula, tomato slices, mozzarella cubes, toasted pine nuts and bits of cooked chicken

PIZZA From Page 69 hand, stretching it with the other, then pushing the heel of the holding hand into the mass. Knead for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. If the dough gets sticky, add 1 tablespoon of all-purpose ﬂour. If using a mixer, attach the dough hook and the bowl to the mixer. Add both ﬂours and the

or leftover grilled steak that have been tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and red pepper ﬂakes. Garnish with shaved Parmesan. — a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, then topped with cooked shrimp, cubed avocado, jalapeño peppers, red onions, tomatoes and red peppers dressed with olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, hot sauce and chopped fresh cilantro. Dessert Pizza: Roll the dough thin and bake until almost done. Sprinkle with brown sugar and butter and bake until bubbling. Top with: — berries tossed with sugar, torn fresh mint, cracked black pepper. Serve with a dollop of honey-drizzled mascarpone, or vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. HAWAIIAN PIZZA REDUX You won’t catch Canadian bacon and canned pineapple anywhere near Hawaiian chef Peter Merriman’s pies. But this founder of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, a group that celebrates the use of fresh and local island ingredients, offers suggestions for authentic island combos. Try: — Kalua pig (or smoked pulled pork); slices of fresh, grilled pineapple; chili-spiked red sauce and Parmesan cheese. — Macadamia-nut pesto (substitute Macadamia nuts for pine nuts in your favorite pesto recipe), shrimp, crab, lobster and Parmesan. oil to the yeast mixture. Mix on medium until combined. Knead on low until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. If the dough gets sticky, add 1 tablespoon of allpurpose ﬂour. Using a paper towel, coat a large bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat all sides with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1-1/2

BARBECUE Cheryl and Bill Jamison, authors of “The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining,” recommend grilling everything from toppings to dough, and letting folks create their dream pie from a lavish buffet. Keep the dough thick, grill it on one side, then turn it over to receive toppings and ﬁnish cooking. Be sure to fully cook all meats in advance, as the pizzas won’t be on the grill long enough for the meats to cook there. Try these combinations: — shredded, barbecued chicken and beef brisket, grilled corn kernels, poblano chilies, cilantro pesto mixed with mild red chili sauce and Monterey or pepper jack cheese. — strips of grilled ﬂank steak, grilled onions and bell peppers and grated provolone cheese. — grilled sausage and calamari, grilled bell peppers, onions, eggplant, garlic, pesto, spicy red sauce and grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

anchovies and olive oil; fried oysters and thin slices of preserved lemon. INDIAN American-style pizza is hugely popular in India, but it’s been gussied up with chicken tikka and other local flavors. Cookbook writer Monica Bhide, author of the recent cookbook “Modern Spice,” says pizza’s the perfect vehicle for a contemporary approach to Indian flavors. Use regular pizza dough or frozen naan for the crust. Then try: — thinly sliced ripe figs, strips of pancetta, fresh basil, ricotta cheese and crumbled paneer. — chicken tikka, mozzarella or paneer, and sliced red onion. Garnish with cilantro and red pepper flakes. For the chicken tikka, marinate boneless chicken chunks in yogurt, ginger, garlic and store-bought tandoori spice mix. Grill until done.

BAR FOOD Washington mixologist Gina Chersevani has made her name combining vodka, gin and forgotten liquors with exotic ingredients such as saffron, cloves and lotus, beets and mushrooms, herbs, fruit, blue cheese, even wild game. Chersevani also grew up playing with pizza dough, courtesy of her father, an Italian chef, so coming up with pizzas that mimic some of her signature cocktails was a snap. She suggests: — pastry dough, ricotta cheese mixed with sugar and egg yolk, and thinly sliced fresh peaches tossed with thyme. Bake, then drizzle with a reduction of sloe gin, a gin that has been ﬂavored with sloe berries. — pastry dough, walnuts, vodka-soaked ﬁgs (chopped), prosciutto and Gorgonzola. Bake, then sprinkle with shaved white chocolate. ■

SEAFOOD Even though she’s a pepperoni diehard, Keff envisions seafood pizzas that range from snappy and spicy to rich and unctuous. Try: — smoked salmon, thymespiked bechamel sauce, capers and Grana Padano cheese. — a salsa made from parsley, vinegar, capers, garlic, onion, hours. When ready to bake the pizza, divide and roll out the dough as desired. Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 160 calories; 25 calories from fat; 3 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 30 g carbohydrate; 6 g protein; 4 g ﬁber; 196 mg sodium. ■

Published the 2nd and 4th week of every month. Call one of our dedicated advertising representatives today:

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

worth watching: FRIDAY It’s My Party One of the first films to address AIDS spotlights a gay man who throws himself a final bash. 7 p.m. on IFC. Meth Nation Meth use in the U.S. is detailed. 8 p.m. on Discovery. SATURDAY Kings Will King Silas’ son Jack finally prove worthy of the throne? Or will his clingy exboyfriend continue to prove problematic in his fight for his birthright? 8 p.m. on NBC. Groomer Has It Tonight, the groomers go green with the dogs. 9 p.m. on Animal Planet. Ellen: Here and Now The daytime dyke diva’s 2003 special at Broadway’s Beacon Theatre. 10 p.m. on HBO. Pushing Daisies Series finale. The past becomes the present when one half of the Darling Mermaid Darlings’ archrivals, the Aquadolls, is killed. To find the murderer, the Darling Mermaid Darlings must come out of retirement.

Q on the tube:

10 p.m. on ABC.

gay law clerk. 10 p.m. on TNT.

Sundance Pride Programming Sundance is devoting its Saturday-night movie slot to LGBT ﬁlms. “The Bubble” is a provocative 2006 ﬁlm about a trio of Tel Aviv queers — two men and a woman. One of the men falls for a Palestinian: Romantic comedy meets jihad. “Luster” is a sexy/serious romp about a gay poet working in a record store. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. on Sundance.

Nurse Jackie Edie Falco is better than Carmela Soprano in this dark dramedy. With queer nurse Mo-Mo. 10:30 p.m. on Showtime.

John Waters: This Filthy World The gay ﬁlmmaker/writer/ comedian in a one-man show. 11:45 p.m. on Showtime. SUNDAY True Blood Season premiere. The queer, vampire-riddled town of Bon Temps, La., is revived. Gay creator Alan Ball brings the gang back with Sookie in danger, a newly made teen vampire and a body at Merlotte’s. 9 p.m. on HBO. MONDAY Raising the Bar The new season premieres with Charlie facing life as an openly

TUESDAY Mental Last week, when Arturo came on to Chloe, she told him he was not a cure for her lesbianism. 9 p.m. on Fox. WEDNESDAY New Adventures of Old Christine With lesbian comedian Wanda Sykes. 8 p.m. on CBS. The Goode Family This animated series features a family of ultra-green-conscious vegans. There’s a lesbian couple who lives nearby, but many may ﬁnd the stereotyped portrayal offensive. Tonight features the lesbians, who also have a son. 9 p.m. on ABC. THURSDAY The Fashion Show Just like “Project Runway,” but with a different gay guy. Designer Isaac Mizrahi hosts. 10 p.m. on Bravo. ■

Queer TV you can always see: The Young & The Restless Rafe Torres (Yani Gellman) hasn’t been on screen for three weeks. And making Adam into a crossdressing murderer? This is the guy they want to pair Rafe with? Monday-Friday, 12:30 p.m. on CBS. As the World Turns Noah won a film award at school and must make his own film. Luke suggests a film about growing up the son of an Army man. Monday-Friday, 2 p.m. on CBS. Guiding Light Poor Olivia. All she wants is to get Natalia in bed. But Natalia’s priest is stalking her, Rafe snubs her and Frank is everywhere. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. on CBS. Ellen On Friday, Ellen interviews “American Idol” bitchy Brit Simon Cowell. Monday-Friday, 3 p.m. on NBC. The Rachel Maddow Show Maddow’s show was the only cable news program to be nominated for a Television Critic’s Circle Award. You go, girl! Monday-Friday, 9 p.m. on MSNBC.

PAGE 73

D-LIGHTED: Emmy awards-winning comic and celebrity-hounding trash-talking rabblerouser Kathy Griffin is back for a fifth season of “My Life on the D-List.” The success of the show probably means there will be no shortage of celebrities for Miss Griffin and her merry crew of assistants to interact with. See who shows up at 10 p.m. June 15 on Bravo. Photo: Mike Ruiz

Don’t ask, don’t serve By Victoria A. Brownworth PGN Contributor It’s 40 years after Stonewall, a significant milestone in the long quest for LGBT civil rights. In 1969, most young queers were against the Vietnam War: The fight for LGBT visibility didn’t include a struggle to serve openly in the military. It does now. The U.S. is actively engaged in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as regular incursions into Pakistan, the country the Department of State calls one of the most dangerous on earth. One of the many campaign promises Barack Obama made was to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But not only has the president not ended the military ban on openly gay servicemembers, he’s dismissed it all together, passing the buck to Congress, as if he’s unable to issue the same kind of executive order regarding queers in the military as he did a few weeks ago for fuel standards for cars — or like the one issued by President Truman to desegregate the military. San Francisco gay filmmaker Johnny Symons’ documentary, “Ask Not,” pre-dates Obama’s failure to address the ban since he’s taken office, but it details — heartbreakingly and outrageously — the history of the ban and its impact. PBS will air “Ask Not” at 10 p.m. June 16 as part of its Independent Lens series. For those unfamiliar with how the law came about, Symons’ documentary is a thorough explanation of how then-President Bill Clinton was manipulated by the Pentagon and Congress into signing the bill, the wording of which was crafted by Gulf War Gen. Colin Powell. When Clinton took office, naively believing there would be no opposition to his plan to overturn the ban on lesbians and gays in the military, he was stunned to find the beginning of his first term in office hijacked by the issue. But in 1992, only 16 percent of Americans thought it was acceptable for gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. In 2009 the percentage is vastly different: 70 percent favor allowing openly gay men and women in the armed forces. Rather than go ahead and overturn the ban through executive order, Clinton was convinced by Congressmembers and aides that he should have the ban studied. But the results led to the infamous “compromise,” in which gays and lesbians could join the military as long as they didn’t reveal their sexual orientation. But if they or someone else “told,” they would be discharged. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was supposed to make it easier for queers to serve. It has not. There are many outrages related to the ban, and Symons’ painful film details many of them. Drawing on interviews with gay and lesbian servicemembers as well as other members of the military, Symons outlines the impact on national security of a policy that has resulted in the dismissal of 54 Arabic linguists, as well as 12,000 other servicemembers. Alex Nicholson, a linguist discharged under the law, is typical of who the military is losing to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Nicholson speaks five languages including Arabic, holds a master’s degree in public administration and is currently finishing a Ph.D. in political science. Following his discharge, Nicholson recruited other recent veterans and founded the Call To Duty nationwide speaking tour to ignite debate about the law. Nicholson poses the film’s salient question: “Do we really care anymore if the person who translates the next piece of crucial intelligence is gay or straight as long as he or she gets the job done quickly and accurately, and helps save American lives in the process?” To learn more about the film, visit pbs.org/asknot. ■

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

Diversions

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Your guide to arts and entertainment

Theater

The Andersen Project The boundary-pushing one-man show inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s stories and starring out French-Canadian actor Yves Jacques is presented at 8 p.m. June 12-13 at the Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St.; (215) 7905847.

PGN

Pick

Slightly Irregular Arden Theatre Company presents its professional apprentice showcase June 13-14 on the Arcadia Stage, 40 N. Second St.; (215) 922-1122.

Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa Event Center, 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City, N.J.; (609) 317-1000.

Big & Rich The country stars perform at 7 p.m. June 13 at Willy Wonka Jr. Susquehanna Bank Center, The Media Theater presents 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden, the stage adaptation of N.J.; (856) 365-1300. “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory,” which features Anaïs Mitchell the songs from the classic The singer-songwriter Avenue X family ﬁlm “Willy Wonka performs at 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia Shakespeare and The Chocolate June 14 at Tin Angel, 20 Festival Theater presents Factory,” through July 4, N. Second St.; (215) 928an a-cappella musical set 104 E. State St.; (610) 891- 0770. in Brooklyn circa 1963, 0100. where two young men Peter, Paul & Mary want nothing more than to The folk group performs at sing at the Legendary Fox 7:30 p.m. June 14 and 16 Theater, through June 21, at Kimmel’s Verizon Hall, 2111 Sansom St.; (267) 260 S. Broad St.; (215) 987-9865. Debussy and 790-5847. Has it really been almost 40 years since the New York Dolls came screeching out of Shostakovich New York City and gave punk rock, glam and new wave a sloppy, drug-fueled, platformGrey Gardens The Philadelphia Orchestra Jimmy Buffett booted kick in the rear end? Looks like it has, and the band is back with a revamped linePhiladelphia Theatre presents a concert featuring The leisurely tropicalup and a new album, “Cause I Sez So.” How perfect is it, then, that the ragged-aroundCompany presents the French-inspired splash themed musician performs the-edges group is performing at a venue equally rough and enduring? 7 p.m. June 18 eccentric lives of the and Russian splendor, at at 7 p.m. June 18 and 20 at at The Trocadero Theatre, 1003 Arch St. For more information and tickets, visit www. reclusive Little Edie Beale 8 p.m. June 13 and 16 at Susquehanna Bank Center, nydolls.org or call (215) 922-5483. Photo: Max Lackner and her mother, Edith Kimmel’s Verizon Hall, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden, Bouvier Beale, the cousin 260 S. Broad St.; (215) N.J.; (856) 365-1300. and aunt of Jacqueline 790-5847. Let’s Pretend We’re Shakespeare Theatre, 36 The Producers Kennedy Onassis, Better Than Ezra The Walnut Street Theatre Madison Ave., Madison, Bruckner Mass in E respectively, through June Married The alt-rock band performs presents an all-new 1812 Productions presents N.J.; (973) 408-5600. Minor 28 at Suzanne Roberts 8 p.m. June 17 at The production of Mel Brooks’ The Philadelphia Orchestra Trocadero Theatre, 1003 Theater, 480 S. Broad St.; a new cabaret about bliss of Tony Award-winning the wedded sort featuring Little Lamb presents a daring piece by (215) 985-0420. Arch St.; (215) 922-5483. musical, through July 19, original material and InterAct Theatre Company Hector Berlioz written in 825 Walnut St.; (215) 5741837 for a large chorus, Forbidden Broadway’s classic cuts from Burns and presents the story of a Girl in a Coma 3550. gay couple who adopts Allen to The Bickersons, at 8 p.m. June 18 and 2 Greatest Hits The all-female punk band a baby, only to have the through June 14 at The p.m. June 19 and 21 at The Walnut Street performs at 8 p.m. June 17 Kimmel’s Verizon Hall, Respect: A Musical Independence Foundation birth mother visit with Theatre presents a tribute at The Khyber, 56 Second 260 S. Broad St.; (215) Journey of Women Black Box at The Prince strong opinions about the to the big shows and St.; (215) 238-5888. 790-5847. Act II Playhouse presents a Music Theater, 1412 placement of her daughter, bigger legends in this high-energy celebration of Chestnut St.; (215) 592through June 28 at The hilarious, loving and Tom Jones 9560. Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St.; just how much women have endlessly entertaining We dare someone to throw changed using the best songs (215) 568-8079. a pair of boxer briefs onto revue, through June 28 at of the past 100 years, through The Machine The Little Foxes the stage when the singer Independence Studio on June 28, 56 E. Butler Ave., Little Mary Sunshine The Shakespeare Theatre performs at 8 p.m. June 3, 825 Walnut St.; (215) The Pink Floyd tribute Ambler; (215) 654-0200. of New Jersey presents Barley Sheaf Players 17 at The Mann Center for 574-3550. band performs at 8 p.m. the Performing Arts, 5201 American playwright Lillian presents the silly and June 12 at Keswick Parkside Ave.; (215) 546The Seafarer wonderful musical with Hellman’s compelling Hysteria Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Arden Theatre Company work about the ambitious, a little bit of everything: The Wilma Theater Ave., Glenside; (215) 572- 7900. presents Broadway’s Colorado Rangers, a presents a madcap comedy Southern, middle-class 7650. The New York Dolls stalwart captain, a chorus of Tony-nominated hit about full of mistaken identities, Hubbard siblings and their The pioneering glam-punk a collection of misﬁts on less-than-honorable scheme simpering school girls and missing clothing and Chicago and Earth, band performs 7 p.m. dazzling surprises set in to become rich, even at a villainous Indian, through Christmas Eve in Ireland, Wind & Fire June 18 at The Trocadero through June 14 on the F. 1938 London, through the expense of destroying June 20, 810 N. Whitford The two classic feel-good Theatre, 1003 Arch St.; June 14, 265 S. Broad St.; their own family, through Road, Lionville; (610) 363- Otto Haas Stage, 40 N. pop bands perform at 8 (215) 922-5483. (215) 546-7824. Second St.; (215) 922-1122. p.m. June 12-13 at the June 28 at The F.M. Kirby 7075.

Music classical

Music other

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Notices Send notices at least one week in advance to: Diversions, PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147; fax them to (215) 925-6437; or e-mail them to diversions@epgn. com. Notices cannot be taken over the phone.

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

PAGE 75

Invasive Species The NEXUS co-operative at the Community Arts Center presents an experimental group exhibition through June 19, 414 Plush Mill Road, Wallingford; (610) 5661713. New Abstractions Edge Gallery presents an exhibition featuring the work of modernist painter Robert Langford, through June 28, 72 N. Second St.; (215) 413-7072. New Works The Clay Studio presents an exhibition by artist Rebecca Chappell, through June 28, 137 N. Second St.; (215) 925-3453.

Satan and Adam The blues duo performs 8 p.m. June 17 at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St.; (215) 222-1400. Outgrowths AxD Gallery presents a solo sculpture exhibition by artist Carey Netherton, through July 28, 265 S. Art Gallery Reception: 10th St.; (215) 627-6250. Burkhart, Johnson, Mooney Paint Out: New Hope The William Way LGBT BOI’s of New Hope hosts Community Center hosts a 25 artists for a plein-air wine and cheese reception painting competition from with artists Ryan Burkhart, noon-6 p.m. June 13 and Justin Johnson and Jimi 10 a.m.-3 p.m. June 13, Mooney, 6-8 p.m. June 12, 1315 Spruce St.; (215) 732- 9 W. Mechanic St., New Hope; (215) 862-8292. 2220.

Exhibits

A Closer Look Allens Lane Art Center presents new paintings and sculptures by artists Henrietta and Reinhold Edelschein, through June 12, 601 W. Allens Lane; (215) 248-0546.

Pickles and Pop The Clay Studio presents the latest works from artist Melissa Mytty, through June 28, 137 N. Second St.; (215) 925-3453.

Pulp Function Fred Beans Gallery at Michener Art Museum Crazy Ladies presents a wide variety of Proximity Gallery presents artistic expressions using a collection of drawings, paintings and other works by handmade paper pulp, Christine Jones, thematically recycled paper, paper cuts, cardboard, papier-mâché linked to achieve both the and folded paper, through reticence of youth slipping away and the quiet musings June 28, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown; (215) 340of adult expectations, 9800. through June 30, 2434 E. Dauphin St.; (267) 825-2949. What Were They Thinking: 160 Years of Folk Art Bad Taste The Philip and Muriel Mid-Atlantic Center for the Berman Museum of Art at Arts presents an exhibition Ursinus College presents of styles that were the an installation focusing on height of fashion at some examples from Dr. David point in recent history, Bronstein’s collection of Pennsylvania and Northeast through Nov. 8 at The folk art and artifacts, through Carriage House Gallery at the Emlen Physick Estate, Aug. 29, 601 E. Main St., 1048 Washington St., Cape Collegeville; (610) 409May, N.J.; (609) 884-5404. 3500.

SPRINGTIME FOR HIT SHOWS: Catch Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” through July 19 at Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St. The blockbuster musical comedy won rave reviews when it debuted on Broadway and took home a boatload of Tony Awards with its story of shady producer Max Bialystock (Ben Lipitz, middle) and his mousy accountant Leo Bloom (Ben Dibble, left) scheming about how they could make more money producing a Broadway flop written by Franz Liebkind (Jeffrey Coon) than a hit. Of course, things don’t quite go as planned and hilarity ensues. Photo: Brett Thomas

Opera

Film

The Rape of Lucretia Opera Company of Philadelphia presents the ancient Roman tale and acclaimed chamber opera, through June 14 at Kimmel’s Perelman Theater, 260 S. Broad St.; (215) 790-5847.

Miss March The 2009 comedy is screened at 8 p.m. June 15 at The Trocadero Theatre, 1003 Arch St.; (215) 9225483.

Guglielmo Ratcliff Amici Opera Company presents Mascagni’s opera at 7 p.m. June 13 and 20 at The Garden Church, 82 N. Lansdowne Ave.; (215) 224-0257.

Dance

La Sylphide The Pennsylvania Ballet presents the story of a young Scottish farmer who abandons his brideto-be for a beautiful sylph, thus angering the witch who heralds his demise, through June 13 at Kimmel’s Perelman Theater, 260 S. Broad St.; (215) 790-5847.

The Godfather The 1972 Oscar-winning classic is screened at 2 p.m. June 14 at The Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; (610) 9170223.

Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims Opera Company of Philadelphia presents a ﬁlm of one of Rossini’s ﬁnest compositions, June 17-21 at Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr; (610) 527-9898.

Books

Joseph O’Neill The author of “Netherland” hosts a reading at 7:30 p.m. June 16 at Central Library, 1901 Vine St.; (215) 6865322.

Book Club: Michael Chabon The William Way LGBT Community Center’s book club discusses “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” at 8 p.m. June 17, 1315 Spruce St.; (215) 732-2220.

Company celebrates its ﬁfth anniversary with Emcee Keith Conallen and the Flashpointer Sisters for an evening of dancing and revelry, 8-11 p.m. June 13 at L2 Restaurant & Bar, 2201 South St.; (215) 6659720.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie The author of “The Thing Around Your Neck” hosts a reading at 7:30 p.m. June 18 at Central Library, 1901 Vine St.; (215) 686-5322.

Lynn Breedlove’s Confessions of a Poser The former Tribe 8 singer and out spoken-word artist performs at 9:30 p.m. June 13 at Tritone Bar, 1508 South St.; (215) 545-0475.

Etc.

Bruce Yelk’s Triumphant Pride Bruce Yelk and the Nightlifegay.com crew host a special Pride Day party from 4-8 p.m. June 14 at Mad River, 126 Chestnut St.; (215) 923-5666.

11th Annual Philadelphia Dyke March The alternative to the mainstream, patriarchal, corporate parties and traditional pride parades kicks off at 3 p.m. June 13 at Kahn Park, 11th and Pine streets; www.myspace.com/ philadelphiadykemarch. Gala 2009: Recession Remix Flashpoint Theatre

Launching a Career Tin Angel hosts a free seminar as public service to the musical artists of the greater Philadelphia community, 8 p.m. June 16, 20 N. Second St.; (215) 928-0770. ■

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Meeting Place A community bulletin board of activities, facilities and organizations

Community centers ■ The Attic Youth Center: For LGBT and questioning youth and their friends and allies. Groups meet and activities are held from 4-8 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays; case management, HIV testing and smoking cessation are available Monday through Friday. See the Youth section for more events. 255 S. 16th St.; (215) 545-4331 ■ Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at the University of Pennsylvania 3907 Spruce St.; (215) 898-5044; center@dolphin.upenn.edu, Summer hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. ■ Rainbow Room — Bucks County’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Allies Youth Center: 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays: Doylestown Planned Parenthood, The Atrium, Suite 2E, 301 S. Main St., Doylestown; (215) 348-0558 ext. 65; rainbowroom@ppbucks.org. ■ William Way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center: 1315 Spruce St.; (215) 732-2220; www.waygay.org. Peer counseling: Monday through Friday, 6-9 p.m. Library hours: Mondays 3-9 p.m., Tuesdays 3-6 p.m., Wednesdays 3-9 p.m., Thursdays 3-9 p.m., Fridays 3-9 p.m., Saturdays noon-6 p.m., Sundays noon-6 p.m. Volunteers: New Orientation: First Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m.; Volunteer Velada, third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m.

Health

Anonymous, free, confidential HIV testing Spanish/English counselors offer testing 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday at Congreso de Latinos Unidos, 166 W. Lehigh Ave.; (215) 763-8870 ext. 6000. AIDS Services In Asian Communities Provides HIV-related services to Asians and Pacific Islanders at 340 N. 12th St., suite 205; (2215) 536-2424. Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative Free, anonymous HIV testing from 9:30 a.m.4:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays at 1207 Chestnut St., fifth floor; (215) 851-1822 or (866) 2223871. Spanish/English. HIV testing Free, anonymous testing and counseling is offered from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment at AIDS Resource, 520 W. Fourth St., suite 2A, Williamsport; (570) 322-8448.

Key numbers ■ AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania: (215) 587-9377 ■ AIDS Law Project of Southern New Jersey: (856) 933-9500 ext. 221 ■ AIDS Library: (215) 985-4851

HIV treatment Free HIV/AIDS diagnosis and treatment for Philadelphia residents are available from 9 a.m.-noon Mondays and 5-8 p.m. Thursdays at Health Center No. 2, 1720 S. Broad St.; (215) 685-1803. HIV health insurance help Access to free medications, conﬁdential HIV testing available at 17 MacDade Blvd., suite 108, Collingdale; Medical Ofﬁce Building, 722 Church Lane, Yeadon; and 630 S. 60th St.; (610) 586-9077. Mazzoni Center Free, anonymous HIV testing; HIV/AIDS care and treatment, case management and support groups; 1201 Chestnut St.; (215) 563-0652. www.mazzonicenter.org. Washington West Project Free, anonymous HIV testing. Walk-ins welcome 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday; 1201 Locust St.; (215) 985-9206. Gloria Casarez, (215) 686-2194; Gloria. Casarez@phila.gov; Fax: (215) 686-2555 ■ Mazzoni Center: (215) 563-0652; www.mazzonicenter.org ■ Mazzoni Center Family and Community Medicine: (215) 563-0658

■ ACLU of Pennsylvania: (215) 5921513

■ Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (Philadelphia): (215) 572-1833

■ AIDS Treatment hot line: (215) 5452212

■ Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations: (215) 686-4670

■ Barbara Gittings Gay and Lesbian Collection at the Independence Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library: (215) 685-1633

■ Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force: (215) 772-2000

■ The COLOURS Organization Inc. 112 N. Broad St., 11th floor; (215) 4960330. ■ Equality Advocates Pennsylvania: (215) 731-1447; (866) LGBTLAW ■ Equality Forum: (215) 732-3378 ■ Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Peer Counseling Services: (215) 732-TALK ■ Mayor’s liaison to LGBT communities:

■ Philadelphia Police Department liaison — Chief Inspector James Tiano: (215) 685-3655 ■ Philadelphia Police Liaison Committee: (215) 494-LGBT; ppd.lgbt@gmail.com

Activism/Politics

ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) Meets at 6 p.m. every Monday at St. Luke and the Epiphany Church, 330 S. 13th St.; (215) 3861981; www.critpath.org/actup. Delaware Valley Chapter, Americans United for Separation of Church and State Seeks activists and supporters of church-state separation. Holds monthly meetings and events; (856) 863-3061; www.dvau.org. Equality Advocates Philadelphia Holds a volunteer night second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m., 1211 Chestnut St., Suite 605; (215) 731-1447; www.equalitypa.org. Green Party of Philadelphia Holds general meetings fourth Tuesday of each month (except April) at 6:30 p.m., 4134 Lancaster Ave.; (215) 243-7103; www.gpop.org. Log Cabin Republican Club of Philadelphia Meets at 7 p.m. third Wednesday of the month at the William Way Community Center; (215) 4655677; www.phillylogcabin.org. Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club Meets seasonally; (215) 760-7184; www. libertycity.org. OutFront! Board of directors meets third Monday of the month; (215) 842-0343.

Arts

Gay Men’s Book Discussion Group Meets at 6:30 p.m. ﬁrst Wednesday of the month at the Independence Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, 18 S. Seventh St.; (215) 685-1633.

Male Oenophile Group Male group forming to discuss, appreciate and taste various wines. Will meet once a month to investigate the nuances and glories of the fermented grape. Call (267) 230-6750 for more information.

the Pride Center of New Jersey; (908) 234-1481.

Men’s Knitting Circle Social and knitting group meets from 6-8 p.m. last Tuesday of the month at Joe Coffee Bar, 1100 Walnut St.; (215) 592-7384.

Women’s Table Tennis New group forming. Interested women are encouraged to e-mail michelesimone19144@yahoo. com.

Mornings OUT LGBT Senior Social Activities for sexual-minority seniors are held every Tuesday from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the William Way Center. PhilaVentures Philadelphia’s GLBT outdoor group meets for a hike in Wissahickon Valley Park on Sundays at 2 p.m. at Borders Books, Music and Café, 8701 Germantown Ave.; (215) 271-8822. Rainbow Room A meeting/activity night held for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth and their friends Wednesdays from 6-8 p.m. at the Rainbow Room of Planned Parenthood in Doylestown; (215) 348-0558. Social XChange A social group for sexual minorities ages 1323 meets every Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. at 1201 Chestnut St., 15th ﬂoor; (215) 496-0330

Sports

Brandywine Women’s Rugby Club Meets for Tuesday and Thursday practice at Greene Field, Howell Street and Moore Road, West Chester; www.brandywinerugby.org.

Library Book Club Meets to discuss a new book at 7 p.m. on third Wednesday of the month at the William Way Center.

City of Brotherly Love Softball League GLBT softball league serves the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Games are played Sundays, beginning in April, in Fairmount Park; (215) 4622575; www.cblsl.org.

New Jersey Gay Men’s Chorus Chorus rehearses at 7:30 p.m. Mondays in Princeton, N.J.; (609) 675-1998.

Delaware Grifﬁns Women’s football team seeks players; (302) 6339054; www.delawaregrifﬁns.com.

Open-mic night An amateur poetry, music and storytelling event sponsored by The Pride Center of New Jersey, meets at 8 p.m. every third Friday at the George Street Playhouse, 1470 Jersey Ave., North Brunswick, N.J.; (732) 846-0715.

Frontrunners Running club meets Saturday mornings at 9:30 for a run and brunch. Lloyd Hall, No. 1 Boathouse Row; www.frontrunnersphila.org.

Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus Chorus rehearses from 7-9:30 p.m. Wednesdays; (215) 731-9230; auditions@pgmc.org. Philadelphia Gay Men’s Opera Club Meets to share and listen to recordings at 6:30 p.m. on last Saturday of the month; (215) 224-6995. Philadelphia Voices of Pride Philadelphia’s ﬁrst mixed GLBT chorus rehearses at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at the William Way Center; (888) 505-7464; www.pvop.org. Queer Writer’s Collective Workshop and discussion group meets 4-6 p.m. on fourth Saturday of the month at the William Way Center. Women’s Book Group Meets ﬁrst Thursday of the month at 6:45 p.m. at Giovanni’s Room, 345 S. 12th St.; brassygrrl@hotmail.com.

Recreation

Diversity Dancers Ballroom dancers meet the ﬁrst Sunday of the month for tea dance and lessons. Other events scheduled throughout the year; (215) 922-2129; DiversityDancers@aol.com. Gay Bridge Club Non-beginners group meets Monday afternoons at the William Way Center; (215) 985-4835. Gay-friendly Scrabble Club Meets from 6-11 p.m. in the P.I.C. Building, 42nd and Locust streets; (215) 382-0789. Gay and Lesbian Scrabble Players in the tri-state area gather for socializing and friendly/competitive games; ScrabbleGroup@excite.com. Gay Opera Guys of Philly New group for opera appreciation meets last Sunday of the month at 2:30 p.m. in Roxborough/ Andorra area; (215) 483-1032.

■ SPARC — Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition: (717) 920-9537

Humboldt Society: Lesbian and Gay Naturalists Meets second Thursday of the month at the William Way Center; (215) 985-1456; www. humboldtsociety.org.

■ Transgender Health Action Coalition: (215) 732-1207 (staffed 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays, and 6-9 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays)

Indepedence Squares GLBT square dance club, modern Western square dancing. Monthly open house. Tuesday classes in the fall; Lutheran Church, 2111 Sansom St.; (215) 735-5812; www.independencesquares.org.

■ Philly Pride Presents: (215) 875-9288

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Gay and Lesbian Bowling League Bowls at 8 p.m. Thursdays in the Norristown area; call Doug Schneidig; (716) 864-4393. Philadelphia Falcons Soccer Club GLBT and allied soccer club; practices Saturdays 10 a.m.-noon and Wednesdays 6-8 p.m. at Edgeley Fields in Fairmount Park;www.falcons-soccer.org. Philadelphia Fins Swim Team Male and female swimmers meet at 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10 a.m. Saturdays in Center City; (610) 564-6661; www. philadelphia-ﬁns.org. Philadelphia Gay Bowling League Meets 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays September through April at Brunswick Zone, 1328 Delsea Drive, Deptford, N.J.; (856) 889-1434; www. philagaybowling.com. Philadelphia Gay Flag Football New group forming. Contact Jered at gayﬂagfootball@gmail.com or (214) 770-5373. Philadelphia Gryphons Rugby Football Club Team seeks players; all skill levels welcome; (215) 913-7531; info@phillygryphons.org. Philadelphia Liberty Tennis Association Meets at 7 p.m. every third Monday at William Way Center; (215) 755-2641; into@plta.us. Philadelphia Phoenix Women’s football team seeks players; (267) 6799535; www.philadelphiaphoenix.org. Philly Gay Hockey Association Philadelphia Phury seeks players; (917) 656-1936; phury@gayhockey.org. Rainbow Riders of the Delaware Valley Motorcycle club meets regularly; (215) 836-0440; www.groups.yahoo.com/group/rainbowridersdv/. Rainbow Rollers Gay and lesbian bowling league meets 9 p.m. on Tuesdays September-April at Laurel Lanes, 2825 Rte. 73 South, Maple Shade, N.J.; (856) 778-7467. South Jersey Gay Bowling League Gay and lesbian bowling league meets 7 p.m. on Fridays September-April at Laurel Lanes, 2825 Rte. 73 South, Maple Shade, N.J.; (856) 778-7467. Spartan Wrestling Club The gay wresting team meets from 7-9 p.m. Mondays at the First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St.; (215) 732-4545; www.phillyspartans. com. Team NJ Meets at 7:30 p.m. third Thursday of the month at

Team Philadelphia Meets at 8 p.m. second Wednesday of the month at the William Way Center; www.teamphiladelphia. org.

Etc.

AIDS Law Project Provides free legal assistance to people with HIV/AIDS and sponsors free monthly seminars on work and housing; 1211 Chestnut St., suite 600; (215) 587-9377; www.aidslawpa.org. BiUnity Philadelphia area social and support network for bisexuals, their family members and friends meets at 7 p.m. the first and third Tuesdays of the month at the William Way Center; www. biunity.org. BiZone A group open to all bisexual, bi-curious and bifriendly people and their partners has meetings at 7:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at The Pride Center of New Jersey. Boomers and Beyond A support and event programming group for sexual-minority seniors meets at 7:30 p.m. every first and third Monday at The Pride Center of New Jersey. Bordentown, N.J. Friends, Lesbians and Gays A political, community and social group that also works to promote Bordentown as a gayfriendly community meets at 6 p.m. on second Sunday of the month at Firehouse Gallery, 8 Walnut St., Bordentown, N.J.; (609) 298-3742. Delaware Pride Meets at 7 p.m. on first Thursday of the month at the United Church of Christ, 300 E. Main St., Newark, Del.; (800) 292-0429. Delaware Valley Pink Pistols For LGBT people dedicated to legal, safe and responsible use of firearms for self-defense; meets at 2 p.m. on third Saturday of the month at Classic Indoor Range, 1310 Industrial Blvd., Southhampton; (267) 386-8907; www. pinkpistols.org. Friday Feast and Fun Dinner hosted by St. John’s Lutheran Church at 6:30 p.m. second Friday of the month, 24 N. Ridge Ave., Ambler; (215) 576-8008. Gay Coffee Hours Meets from 6-9 p.m. on second Thursday of the month at Joe Coffee, 1100 Walnut St.; (215) 592-7384. Haverford College’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance Open meetings 10-11 p.m. Mondays in the lounge in Jones Basement at Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Ave.; (610) 896-4938. Latina/o Virtual Community Local listserv offers various information and resources; (215) 808-2493; Zorros_mail@yahoo. com; LatinPhillyLGBT@yahoogroups.com. Lesbians and Gay Men of New Brunswick A social, educational and potluck group meets at 8 p.m. every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at The Pride Center of New Jersey. LGBTQ and Friends Activity Group Meets at 7 p.m. on third Friday of the month to plan outings and potlucks at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County. Long Yang Club Philadelphia Social organization for gay Asians and their friends holds monthly socials; P.O. Box 401, Philadelphia, Pa. 19105; www.longyangclub. org/philadelphia. Metropolitan Community Church Christian education program is held Wednesdays from 6-10 p.m. at the William Way Center. Our Night Out A casual social networking party of LGBT professionals, allied communities, friends and colleagues meets in a different Philadelphia hot spot each month. To receive monthly event invitations, send email to OurNightOutPhilly@gmail.com; PhillyGayCalendar.com/org/OurNightOut. Philadelphia Bar Association Legal Advice Offered from 5-8 p.m. on third Wednesday of the month; (215) 238-6333. Philadelphia Prime Timers Club for mature gay and bisexual men and their admirers meets regularly; (610) 344-0853; www. primetimersphiladelphia.org.

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009 Philadelphians MC Club for leather men and women meets 7:30 p.m. first and third Mondays of the month at The Pit at The Bike Stop, 201 S. Quince St.; (215) 627-1662. Philly Paw Pals Gay and lesbian dog owners and their dogs meet on first Saturday of the month at a dog park; (215) 618-5290; PhillyPawPals@aol.com. Rainbow Amateur Radio Association ARRL affiliated; private; weekly HF nets, monthly newsletter, e-mail server; (302) 5392392; www.rara.org. Rock ’n’ Roll Queer Bar Party A party for gay and lesbian rockers with host Psydde Delicious starts at 10 p.m. every second Wednesday at N. 3rd, Third and Brown streets; (215) 413-3666. Silver Foxes Social and educational group for gays and lesbians 50 and older meets from 3-5 p.m. on fourth

12-step programs and support groups Adult Children of Alcoholics

Meets at 7 p.m. Tuesdays at the William Way Center. ■ Rainbow Adult Children of Alcoholics and Alcoholics Anonymous meet at 7 p.m. Saturdays at Limestone Presbyterian Church, 3201 Limestone Road, Wilmington, Del.; (302) 456-9129. ■

Al-Anon

Gay Al-Anon meets at 8 p.m. Fridays at St. Andrew’s Church, 50 York St., Lambertville, N.J.; (215) 986-1029. ■ Meets at 7 p.m. Thursdays at the William Way Center. ■

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

Acceptance meets at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays at Episcopal Church, 22nd and Spruce streets. ■ Beginnings meets at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays at 1201 Locust St.; (215) 563-0663 ext. 282. ■ Community meets at 8 p.m. on Thursdays at Holy Communion Church, 2111 Sansom St. Gay and lesbian but all are welcome. ■ GLBT Alcoholics Anonymous meets at 7 p.m. on Sundays and 8 p.m. on Wednesdays at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 100 W. Windsor St., Reading; (484) 529-9504. ■ Living In Sobriety meets at 10 a.m. Mondays through Fridays and 11 a.m. Sundays at the William Way Center. ■ Night Owl meets at 11:30 p.m. Sunday through Saturday at the William Way Center. ■ Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian Beginners meeting meets at 7:30 p.m. Mondays at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2212 Spruce St. ■ Sober and Gay meets at 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Friday at the William Way Center. ■ Stepping Stone meets at 2:30 p.m. Mondays at the Mazzoni Center. ■ Ties That Bind Us is a12-step Alcoholics Anonymous meeting for the BDSM, leather and alternative sexuality community. Meetings are held from 7:30-9 p.m. in South Philadelphia. For location, call (800) 581-7883. ■ Way Gay Young Peoples meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the William Way Center. ■

Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA)

Meets at 7 p.m. on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the William Way Center.

■

Emotional Support

Healing After Loss has monthly activities in South Jersey and surrounding area; www.lsn. southjersey.com. ■ Pink and Blues is a free depression and bipolar support group for sexual minorities and meets at 7 p.m. Wednesdays at St. Luke and The Epiphany Church, 330 S. 13th St.; (215) 627-0424. ■ Pink and Blues Main Line, a peer-run mental health support group, meets 6 p.m. Thursdays at Bryn Mawr Consumer Center, 1001 W. Lancaster Ave.; (610) 527-1511. ■ Survivors of Suicide Inc. meets at 7:30 p.m. on ﬁrst Tuesday of the month at 3535 Market St., Room 2037; (215) 545-2242; www.phillysos. tripod.com. ■ Survivors of Suicide Inc., Chester County meets at 7:30 p.m. on second Wednesday of the month at Paoli Memorial Hospital, Willistown Room, Medical Ofﬁce Building; (215) 545-2242; www. phillysos.tripod.com. ■

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS Sunday of the month at the William Way Center. Stonewall Model Railroad Club Meets monthly; (215) 769-4230; k3k@yahoo. com. Temple University Lambda Alliance Meets from 7-8 p.m. on Thursdays at The Village outside the Lambda ofﬁce, SAC 205, 1755 N. 13th St. Trenton Gay and Lesbian Civic Association Meets at 7 p.m. on third Wednesday of the month at the Mill Hill Saloon, 300 S. Broad St., Trenton, N.J.; (609) 396-9788. Thirsty Third Tuesdays Collingswood Out in the Neighborhood meets at 7 p.m. on third Tuesday of the month for coffee, dessert and conversation at Three Beans, 40 N. Haddon Ave., Haddonﬁeld N.J.; (215) 439-8337.

Strength In Numbers Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ SINPhiladelphia.

Mondays:

Positive Brothers, a support group for men of color living with HIV/AIDS, meets from 6:308:30 p.m. at 112 N. Broad St., 11th ﬂoor; (215) 496-0330.

Branch of the the Free Library, 18 S. Seventh St.; (215) 685-1633. ■ A support group for HIV-positive men and women meets from 1:30-3 p.m. at BEBASHI — Transition to Hope, 1217 Spring Garden St., first floor; (215) 769-3561. ■ Encuentros Positivos, a group for HIV-positive Latino men who have sex with men, meets on first and third Tuesday of the month at 1205 Chestnut St.; (215) 985-3382. ■ “Feast Incarnate,” a weekly ministry for people affected by HIV/AIDS, begins at 5 p.m. at University Lutheran Church, 3637 Chestnut St. Bible study follows at 6 p.m.; (215) 387-2885. ■ A support group for people recently diagnosed with HIV/AIDS will meet from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Mazzoni Center. ■ Youth Outreach Adolescent Community Awareness Program’s Voice It Sistah, a support group for HIV-positive women, meets at 11 a.m. every first and third Tuesday at YOACAP, 1207 Chestnut St., Suite 315; (215) 851-1898.

Wednesdays:

A support group for HIV-positive women will meet from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the Arch Street United Methodist Church, 55 N. Broad St.; (215) 387-6055. ■ AIDS Services in Asian Communities’ weekly volunteer work group will meet from 6-8 p.m. at 340 N. 12th St., Suite 205; (215) 563-2424. ■ Project Teach, a peer-education and empowerment program for people living with HIV/ AIDS, will meet from 3-5 p.m. at Philadelphia Fight, 1233 Locust St. ■ Positive Effect, for HIV-positive people 18 and over, meets from 5-7 p.m. at Camden AHEC, 514 Cooper St., Camden, N.J.; (856) 963-2432. ■

Thursdays:

A support group for HIV-positive men and women will meet from 6-8 p.m. at BEBASHI — Transition to Hope, 1217 Spring Garden St.; (215) 769-3561. ■ Diversity, an HIV/AIDS support group for all infected or affected, meets from 7-9 p.m. at Arch Street United Methodist Church, 55. N. Broad St.; call Zak, (215) 848-4380, or Paul, (215) 307-0347. ■

Saturdays:

AIDS Delaware’s You’re Not Alone youth support group meets at 11 a.m. at AIDS Delaware, 100 W. 10th St., Suite 315, Wilmington; a social session will follow at 12:30 p.m.; (302) 652-6776. ■

Narcotics Anonymous (NA)

Meetings are at 2 p.m. Sunday through Saturday and at 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the William Way Center. ■

Overeaters Anonymous (OA)

Open meeting, Tuesdays, beginners meet at 5:30 p.m., regular meeting at 6 p.m. at Hahnemann University Hospital, 245 N. 15th St., third ﬂoor, room 3208; call Troy, (215) 514-3065. ■

S.A.R.A.

Substance Abuse – Risk Assessment; day and evening hours; (215) 563-0663 ext. 282. ■

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous

Mondays, 7 p.m. at the William Way Center. ■ Mondays, 7:30 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 20 N. Route 9, Marmora, N.J.; (609) 675-1998. ■ Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. at All Saints Church, 18 Olive Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del.; (302) 542-3279. ■ Fridays, 7:30 p.m. at the Ocean View Lodge, Metropolitan Community Church, 521 Glade Road, Rehoboth Beach, Del.; (302) 945-5982. ■ Saturdays, 8:30 p.m. at the William Way Center. ■

SEPCADD

■ Safe space to meet and discuss substance abuse problems with ofﬁce in William Way Center; (215) 340-9995.

Smoking Cessation

■

Tuesdays:

AIDS Services in Asian Community offers safer-sex and HIV/AIDS information at 10 a.m. on second Tuesday of the month at the Independence

■

Boys Night Out A social gathering for gay men, meets at 7 p.m. every second and fourth Tuesday at Iron Hill Brewery, 30 E. State St., Media; BurbBoysNiteOut@aol.com. Delaware Valley 40-plus Club for Men Social group meets every other month; (215) 587-9933. Gay Married Men’s Association Meets at 8 p.m. the second and fourth Wednesdays at the William Way Center; (215) 483-1032. Men of All Colors Together Meets at 7:30 p.m. third Friday of the month September through June at the William Way Center; (610) 277-6595; www.MACTPhila.org. Men’s Coming Out Group, N.J. Meets at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at The Pride Center of New Jersey.

HIV/AIDS

■

Men

FreshOUT!, Mazzoni Center’s free quitsmoking program, hosts individual sessions, classes and support groups and offers Nicotine Replacement Therapy (patches, gum and lozenges); (215) 563-0652 ext. 228 or e-mail quitsmoking@mazzonienter.org. ■

Men’s Coming Out Group Meets at 7 p.m. Thursdays at Washington West Project, 1201 Locust St.; (215) 563-0652 ext. 219. Men of Color United A discussion/support group for gay and bisexual men of color meets from 6:30-8:30 p.m. every Wednesday at 1201 Chestnut St., 15th ﬂoor; (215) 496-0330. Men of Standard Provides a place for men of color 21 and older to share issues of concern. Meets 7-9 p.m. every Thursday at Camden AHEC, 514 Cooper St., Camden, N.J.; (856) 963-2432 ext. 206; johnson_ t@camden_ahec.org. Philly DADS An association of gay and bisexual fathers supporting each other meets at 7:30 p.m. fourth Friday of the month at the William Way Center; (215) 668-5239.

Parents/Families

PAGE 77 Interweave New Jersey An organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Unitarian and their allies meets every third Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 401 N. Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, N.J.; (856) 667-3618. Oasis Meets 7-8 p.m. Wednesdays at 1201 Chestnut St.; (215) 563-0652 ext. 509. Mazzoni Center Family and Community Medicine Primary healthcare and specialized transgender services in a safe, professional, non-judgemental environment, 809 Locust St.; (215) 563-0658. Renaissance Transgender Assoc. Meets at 8 p.m. third Saturday of the month at Into the Woods office complex in King of Prussia; (610) 975-9119 box 5; and 7:30 p.m. first Thursday of the month at the William Way Center; www.ren.org. T-MAN People of color support group for transmen, FTMs, butches, studs, agressives, bois, genderqueer and all female-born individuals with gender questions meets 7:30-9:30 p.m. Mondays, second floor, 1201 Locust St.; (215) 834-9063; tman215@aol.com. Transhealth Programming Committee Meetings are at 5 p.m. second and last Sundays of the month at the William Way Center. Transhealth Information Project Sponsors a weekly drop-in center from 7-11 p.m. Tuesdays at 1201 Locust St.; (267) 549-6497. Transgender Health Action Coalition Peer trans health-advocacy organization meets at 5 p.m. second and last Sundays of the month at the William Way Center; (215) 732-1207; www. critpath.org/thac. WeXist FTM support group meets from 6-8 p.m. second Friday of the month at the William Way Center; first hour is open; second hour is for people assigned female at birth who have gender issues; (267) 250-1548; www.wexist.org.

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Bucks County Meets at 7:30 p.m. third Thursday of the month at Penns Park United Methodist Church, 2394 Second Street Pike, Penns Park; (215) 598-8005.

Young, Trans, and Uniﬁed! Support group for transgender and questioning individuals ages 13-23 meets from 7-8:30 p.m. every Thursday at The Attic Youth Center; (215) 545-4331 ext. 24.

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Cape May, N.J. Meets at 2 p.m. third Sunday of the month in the Maruchi Room of Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital, 2 Stone Harbor Blvd.; (609) 861-1848. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Chester County Meets at 7 p.m. ﬁrst Tuesday of the month at the Unitarian Fellowship of West Chester, 501 S. High St., West Chester; (484) 354-2448.

African Asian Latina Lesbians United Social-issues discussion group meets fourth Thursday of the month at The Pride Center of New Jersey.

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Philadelphia Meets from 2-5 p.m. third Sunday of the month at the LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania, 3907 Spruce St.; (215) 572-1833.

Expressions Women’s Space Lesbian singles, family and coming-out groups meet at 1538 Church St.; (215) 535-3600.

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Princeton, N.J. Meets at 7:30 p.m. second Monday of the month in the George Thomas Room at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer St.; (609) 683-5155. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Wilmington, Del. Meets at 7 p.m. second Thursday of the month at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 13th and Rodney streets; (302) 654-2995. Philadelphia Family Pride Advocacy, support and social network for LGBT families offers play groups, monthly kids and teen talk groups, activities and outings. Planning meetings are held monthly; (215) 844-3360; www. phillyfamilypride.org.

Trans

Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey A transgender civil-rights group meets ﬁrst Sunday of the month at 1 p.m. at The Pride Center of New Jersey.

Women

Bucks County Lesbian Alliance Meets monthly for social events; http://buckscountylesbianalliance.org.

Lesbians and BiWomen in Heterosexual Marriages A support group meets at 7:30 p.m. on third Wednesday of the month at The Pride Center of New Jersey. Lesbian Community of Delaware Valley Social group holds monthly meetings and activities for gay women of all ages in Delaware, Chester and Montgomery counties; P.O. Box 962, Phoenixville, PA 19460; http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/LCDV/; marichikogirl@yahoo.com. Lesbian Couples Dining Group of Montgomery County Meets monthly; (215) 542-2899. Lesbian Social Network of South Jersey 500-member social group for lesbians holds monthly activities in South Jersey and surrounding area; www.lsn.southjersey.com. Lesbians with Breast Cancer A support group meets from 6:30-8:30 on second Wednesday of the month at Gilda Club Delaware Valley, 200 Kirk Road, Warminster; (215) 4413290.

Queer Connections Social group for women in their 20s meets weekly; (215) 468-1352; queerconnect@yahoo. com. Republican Lesbians Meetings held at 7:30 p.m. on first Monday of the month at The Pride Center of New Jersey. South Jersey Lesbians of Color Meetings are the first and third Fridays at 7:30 p.m. at The Starting Point, 215 Highland Ave., Suite C, Westmont, N.J.; (856) 824-0881; e-mail: SJLOC-owner@yahoogroups.com. Women’s Coffee House for Lesbians A group for lesbian and bisexual women meets on first Saturday of the month at 7 p.m. at The Pride Center of New Jersey. The Womyn’s Village The first womyn-owned and operated thinktank targeting black African, Asian, Latina and Native American LBT and two-spirited womyn. Meets at 5 p.m. on third Thursday of the month at COLOURS Organization, 112 N. Broad St., 11th floor; (215) 765-0121; the_womyns. village@yahoo.com.

Youth

40 Acres of Change Discussion group for teen and young adults meets Thursdays at The COLOURS Organization Inc., 112 N. Broad St., 11th ﬂoor; (215) 496-0330. Drop-in Group For gay, lesbian and bisexual youth; meets at 11 a.m. Saturdays at AIDS Delaware, 100 W. 10th St., Suite 315, Wilmington, Del.; (302) 652-6776. HAVEN For GLBT, intersex, questioning, queer and allied youth ages 14-20; meets from 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley, 424 Center St., Bethlehem; (610) 868-2153. HiTOPS A safe-space support program for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, will meet from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at 21 Wiggins St., Princeton, N.J.; (609) 683-5155. Main Line Youth Alliance Meets from 7-9:30 p.m. Fridays at 109 Lancaster Ave., Wayne; (610) 688-1861; info@myaonline. org. Mountain Meadow For youth with GLBTQ parents. Monthly programs for ages 8-16, family programs and parent coffee groups. Residential program offered in August; 1315 Spruce St.; (215) 772-1107; inquiries@mountainmeadow.org. Rainbow Room — Bucks County’s LGBTQ and Allies Youth Center For ages 14-21; meets 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays at Doylestown Planned Parenthood, The Atrium, Suite 2E, 301 S. Main St., Doylestown; (215) 3480558 ext. 65; rainbowroom@ppbucks.org. Space to be Proud, Open, and Together Open to all LGBTQ queer youth and allies, ages 14-21, the SPOT meets Thursdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Planned Parenthood of Chester County’s West Chester ofﬁce, 8 S. Wayne St., West Chester; (610) 692-1770 ext. 108 or thespot@ppccpa.org. Teen Support Group Drop-in group for teens and adolescents meets Thursdays from 4:30-6 p.m. at 1201 Chestnut St.; (215) 563-0658 ext. 319. Under the Rainbow Discussion and social group for 18-25-year-old gays and lesbians meets at 7:30 p.m. at The Pride Center of New Jersey. Youth in Transition A support group for transgender and questioning youth ages 12-23 meets from 7:30-9 p.m. Tuesdays at the The Attic Youth Center. Youth Making a Difference For GLBTQ African-American and Latino youth ages 14-24. Meets from 5-7 p.m. every Tuesday at Camden AHEC, 514 Cooper St., Camden, N.J.; (856) 963-2432 ext. 234; gray_w@camden-ahec. org.

Send submissions to pgn@epgn.com or fax (215) 925-6437 PGN Meeting Place, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 Meeting Place is a public service. Submissions must include a phone number for publication.

Complete Meeting Place listings of all Parent/Family, Professional, Recovery, Recreation, Religion, Sports, Men, Women, Trans and Youth groups can be found online @ www.phliagaynews.com and www.epgn.com

PAGE 78

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

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Classifieds

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Pending US home sales rose 6.7 percent in April By Alan Zibel The Associated Press The number of U.S. homebuyers who agreed to buy a previously occupied home took the largest monthly jump in nearly eight years in April, but there are still plenty of danger signs for the U.S. housing market. Home sales appear likely to head upward this summer, potentially to levels not seen since the stock market collapsed last autumn, but prices are expected to keep falling well into next year. Layoffs, which are causing foreclosures to soar, coupled with rising mortgage rates could dampen any real-estate recovery. The National Association of Realtors said last Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in April surged 6.7 percent to 90.3, far exceeding

analysts’ forecasts. It was the biggest monthly jump since October 2001, when pending sales rose 9.2 percent. The big boost likely reﬂects the impact of a new $8,000 tax credit for ﬁrst-time homebuyers that was included in the economic stimulus bill signed by Obama in February. Since buyers need to complete their purchases by Nov. 30 to claim the credit, “we expect greater activity in the months ahead,” Lawrence Yun, the Realtors’ chief economist, said in a statement. Typically there is a one- to twomonth lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer for future existing home sales. While economists are encouraged by signs that demand for housing is returning, the outlook is far from sunny.

Mortgage rates are rising, making homes less affordable for many borrowers. The average rate for a 30-year, ﬁxed-rate mortgage is around 5.3 percent this week compared with about 5 percent last week, according to Bankrate.com. Stock indexes advanced modestly in morning trading, but then traded in a tight range around the break-even point. Financial stocks fell after several banks announced plans to raise capital to help repay federal bailout funds. The health of the U.S. housing market, mired in a three-year slump, is one of the key issues facing the economy. Though sales may be recovering, analysts cautioned that prices will take longer to stabilize because of the glut of unsold properties for sale. Prices are unlikely to rise until

foreclosures start declining, and that’s unlikely to happen before the end of next year. The national median sales price in April plunged more than 15 percent from year-ago levels to $170,200, driven by sales of inexpensive foreclosures and other distressed low-end properties. That was the secondlargest yearly price drop on record, according to the Realtors’ group. Still unknown is the effectiveness of President Obama’s $50-billion plan to prevent foreclosures by modifying loans in bulk. Analysts are growing worried that it will not have a substantial impact. “I haven’t seen evidence yet of any signiﬁcant modiﬁcations,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys’ Economy.com. “I

was hoping that we would see more of a pickup.” The Realtors’ index of pending sales contracts was 3.2percent above last year’s levels and has risen for three straight months after hitting a record low in January. A nearly 33-percent sales increase in the Northeast and a 9.8-percent jump in the Midwest led the overall surge. Sales contracts were ﬂat or up slightly in the South and West. Still, Yun cautioned that the pending sales data is more volatile than in the past. Many homeowners need to sell their properties for less than the balance they owe on their mortgages — a so-called “short sale” — which requires the lenders’ approval. That process is often difﬁcult, time-consuming and can fall apart before the deal closes. ■

Location! Location! Location! This week’s featured property

600 Saint George - West Mt. Airy

Beds: 5 Baths: 4.5 Square footage: 5,150 Cost: $1.85 million Age of Property: Mid-19th Century Realtor: Deborah Solo Real estate co.: Solo Real Estate Phone: 215 -564-7656 ext. 11 Web site: www.solorealty.com

Check your ad

PLACING ADS Using voicemail? Please be sure to have the following information ready when you call: • Your ad copy • The type of style you want • Desired abbreviations • American Express, Discover, MasterCard or VISA information • Your name and mailing

Spectacularly redesigned & completely renovated 4 years ago by well-known Philadelphia architect. Luxurious retreat, corner property w/gardens and pool. Kitchen opens to Great Room, guest suites, study, dens. Amazing details.

address • Daytime telephone number Having all this information ready will speed your order and help to avoid errors. Phone calls can only be returned during business hours. For more information, see the coupon page in this section.

Philadelphia Gay News assumes responsibility for errors in classified ads only when notified by noon the Tuesday after the ad first appears. To receive credit for errors, please notify PGN by then. Credit only will be extended in the form of additional advertising space. Any cash refunds, for any reason, are subject to a $10 service charge. PGN will publish no classified ad — in any category — that contains sexually explicit language. Obviously excluded are traditional four-letter words that relate to sexual activity. Other words may be excluded at the discretion of the publisher, who reserves the right to edit or rewrite any ad that, in his opinion, violates this policy or its intent.

CLASSIFIEDS

PAGE 80

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

Placing Classiﬁeds Liner Ads In Person: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, By Phone or on the Web: 24 Hours, 7 Days

Deadline for Line Advertising is Friday at 3 p.m. for the following Friday’s issue. You may place your ad via our secure voicemail system, fax or e-mail at any time, or on our Web site. Please have the following information ready to place your ad:

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All classified advertising must be in our office by 3 p.m. Friday for the next Friday’s paper. Ads arriving after that time will be held for the next available issue. PGN reserves the right to edit or rewrite ads as needed, to refuse any ad for any reason and to determine the final classification. Ads determined to be in bad taste, directed to or from persons under the legal age of consent or containing racially or sexually discriminatory language will be refused. We need your full name, mailing address and daytime phone number on the insertion order form for you ad. This information is confidential and will not appear in the paper. Any ads received without full information will be destroyed. Sexually explicit language will be edited or refused at the discretion of the management.

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Classified ads may placed online or by mail, fax, e-mail or in person at the PGN offices at 505 S. Fourth St., Phila. Phone, fax and e-mail orders are accepted with credit/debit cards only. A $10 minimum applies to all charges. If you are paying in person with cash, please have the exact change as we cannot make change at the office. All ads must be prepaid for their entire run. NO EXCEPTIONS! DO NOT SEND CASH THROUGH THE MAIL; IT’S NOT SAFE AND CANNOT BE GUARANTEED.

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Classiﬁeds Liner Insertion Order

Select the TYPE STYLE you want from the examples below, and begin each line under the arrow to the left of the letter representing that style. Write to the end of the line (hyphenate words correctly. Do not stop at any other arrow, as each arrow represents a starting point. Allow one block for each letter, number, punctuation mark and space. Be sure to skip a space between words. PHONE NUMBER MUST INCLUDE AREA CODE. Be sure to circle one of the classiﬁcations and compute the cost of your ad. Liner advertising is on a PREPAY BASIS ONLY, and payment must accompany this form. PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH THROUGH THE MAIL. Type STYLE A Type STYLE B TYPE STYLE C

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NUMBER OF WEEKS X SUBTOTAL % TERM DISCOUNT AD TOTAL CLASSIFICATION (CIRCLE ONE) REAL ESTATE FOR SALE • REAL ESTATE FOR RENT • ROOMMATES • SEASONAL RENTALS • SERVICES • FINANCIAL SERVICES HELP WANTED • JOBS WANTED • BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES • FOR SALE • AUTOMOTIVE • AUCTIONS • TRAVEL RESORTS ADOPTION • PERSONALS • FRIENDS MEN • FRIENDS BISEXUAL • FRIENDS TV/TS • FRIENDS WOMEN

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PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

PAGE 45

�� Real Estate ��

�

JUNE 112- 7, - 18, 2009 MAY 2009

CLASSIFIEDS PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

PAGE8145 PAGE

MAY 1 - 7, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

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PHIL

PAGE 48

REAL ESTATE �� SALE ��

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OPEN HOUSE UNIVERSITY CITY AREA Attention Hunters! 60 Acres- $99,900 Timber Walton Avenue be having an Open co. liquidating a hunting paradiseloaded w/big 20AC with Utilities &will Country Road was BD/1 BA, 4943 �� House Sunday June 14th, 1:00 3:00 PM. �� whitetail deer. hardwood trails me$99,900 Now All $69,900 BLMsetting, access. Deer & erry wood Available in time for summer fun. Located on the Home hasthroughout, been totally updated while keeping andering pristine mountain views. elk galore! Call to view 877-229-7840 www. � . BD with river in quiet Beachwood, NJ. Large home with itOld original and detail.just 20 minutes to statecharm road frontage, bed, Best 3.5 bath, water views from Easy all rooms, 6 _______________________________33-24 town. buy in West Virginia! owner ows in $4 6 _______________________________32-16 decks, inground pool, hot tub and much DE more. �� SALE BY WILMINGTON, CallOWNER, now 1-877-526-3764. , Realtor, ﬁnancing. Available the Priced Call askcforoon Elliott D e s i at g $899K. ninetime r for hsummer iLBO g h -Realty, efun. n dLocated nd o _______________________________33-18 Luxury four bedroom, fourNJ. bath. Fullyhome furnished. 348-0000, river in quiet Beachwood, 732-674-3851 for info and forLarge showing. in DE. STUNNING-FURNISHED Condowith in Mountain and lake views. $678,000. Call Dave 6 bed, 3.5 bath, all fee-2br/2 rooms, 6 3, 1-3 _______________________________33-18 Wilmington. Lowwater taxesviews and from condo inground hot tub and much more. Warminster > 55pool, community. 2 BR, 2 BA with bath- newly renovated. Balcony, Pool, Fitness ___33-18 decks, _______________________________32-16 Priced at $899K. Call-MUST LBO Realty, forAnn Elliott bsmt condo. $200K. dgr5162@verizon.net Ctr, Community Ctr SEE-ask Call at 732-674-3851 forMcKean/Potter info and for showing. 72 acres along County line _______________________________33-18 267-251-9261. $135,000. _______________________________33-18 near Shinglehouse. Mostly wooded, some _______________________________33-26 Warminster > includes 55 community. 2 BR, 2 BA with open area, old hunting 5bd only $32,000! Payments $300/mo!cabin, More bsmt condo. $200K. dgr5162@verizon.net electric, $199,000. Field and StreamRent RE. 1-5bd Homes Available from $199/mo! _______________________________33-18 to Own Properties! Free Info & Listings 800�� _______________________________32-16 516-8301. �� _______________________________33-24 �� Beautiful 4bd Home only $25,000! Payments �� from $199/mo! Bad Credit OK! Rent to Own! �� Listings & Info 800-516-8301. _______________________________33-24 NC Land Sale, 126 acres joining National Forest, wooded with stream, road frontage. �� Owner Financing, Low Down Payment, lots �� of wildlife, close to intersate, low taxes. Email owner: outdoors28338@yahoo.com �� _______________________________33-24 �� New York State Family Owned Farm Since �� 1880 -FOR SALE 5 Acres -Gorgeous Reidgeline Views -$19,900. 10 Acres w/Meadows, Woods, Streams -$25,900. Larger Tracts Available 800-229-7843 www.LandandCamps. com _______________________________33-24 Cameron County- 9.8 acres with stream frontage and frontage on state forest. Perc, electric, level building site. $89,000. Owner ﬁnancing 800-668-8679. or Shawn@sylvanglen.com _______________________________33-24

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Electronic PGN: www.epgn.com

PGN

REAL ESTATE �� SALE ��

��

�� Attention Hunters! 60 Acres- $99,900 Timber �� co. liquidating a hunting 20AC with Utilities & paradiseCountry loaded Road w/big was Condo 4 Sale, End Unit, 3rd Fl., 2 BD/1 BA, �� $69,900 whitetail hardwood trails me$99,900 deer. Now All BLMsetting, access. Deer & XL Kitchen-granice countertops, cherry wood �� andering throughout, pristine mountain views. elk galore! Call to view 877-229-7840 www. cabinets, H/W�� wood floors t/o, Mstr. BD with Old state Hunters! road frontage, just$99,900 20 minutes to Attention 60 AcresTimber �� co. liquidating a hunting w/big Best in West Virginia! loaded Easy w/i closet & loft,End hi ceilings, 6ft.Fl., windows $4 town. 20AC with buy Utilities & paradiseCountry Road owner was Condo 4 Sale, Unit, 3rd 2 BD/1inBA, _______________________________32-16 whitetail hardwood trails mefinancing. CallAll now 1-877-526-3764. $99,900 deer. Now $69,900 BLMsetting, access. Deer & hund’s. Pet friendly.countertops, Doree Gitzes, Realtor, XL Kitchen-granice cherry wood andering throughout, pristine mountain views. _______________________________33-18 elk galore! Call to view www. Luxury four bedroom, four877-229-7840 bath. Fully furnished. Long & Foster Real floors Estate, cabinets, H/W wood t/o,215-348-0000, Mstr. BD with Old state road frontage, just 20 minutes to Mountain lake views.Virginia! $678,000. Callowner Dave X-8015. Sunday May 3, 1-3 Bestand buy in West Easy w/i closetOpen & loft,House, hi ceilings, 6ft. windows in $4 town. _______________________________32-16 hund’s. Pet friendly. Doree Gitzes, Realtor, financing. Call now 1-877-526-3764. _______________________________33-18 _______________________________32-16 _______________________________33-18 �� Long & Foster Real Estate, 215-348-0000, Luxury four bedroom, four bath. Fully furnished. 72 acres along McKean/Potter County line Mountain and lake views. $678,000. Call Dave X-8015. Open House, Sunday May 3, 1-3 �� near Shinglehouse. Mostly wooded, some _______________________________33-18 �� open area, includes old hunting cabin, _______________________________32-16 electric, Field and Stream 72 acres $199,000. along McKean/Potter County RE. line

��

near Shinglehouse. Mostly wooded, some �� _______________________________32-16 open area, includes old hunting cabin, �� electric, $199,000. Field and Stream RE. �� _______________________________32-16 ��

For Sale – The Stouch Tavern 1785. Well established historic tavern located in the quaint village of�� Womelsdorf, Berks County, PA. Turn�� key operation with business, real estate, and �� “HR” liquor license included. Possibilities ga�� lore, including B & �� B conversion!! $495,000.00 ��

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�� For Sale – The Naomi Hotel. Own �� a piece of history with this 200+ year old property overlooking the Schuylkill River in Robeson Twp., Berks County, PA. Once a respite for workers �� along the old Schuylkill Canal; this property �� oﬀers many conversion options for the inves�� tor. Zoned village-commercial. Real estate, 1.53 acres, “H” liquor license oﬀered. $369,900.00 �� Contact�� – Rae Wheelan, NAI Keystone Commercial & Industrial, LLC �� for your personal tour. �� rwheelan@naikeystone.com • 610-370-8514 �� www.naikeystone.com ��

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eck out Diversions. �� What’s going on? Check out Diversions.

REAL ESTATE �� SALE ��

��

Areas include Shawnee, Camel Back, �� Mt. Airy�� Casino and Rainbow Mt. ��

�� Corners of Routes 390 &�� 447�� • Candensis, PA �� 18325 ��

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PGN

��

Conrad Kuhn

Broker/Sales Rep. Since 1987 NJAR Circle of Excellence Sales Award 1991- 2007 Weichert President’s & Ambassador’s Clubs

Ofﬁce: 856.227.1950 ext. 124 Cell: 609.221.1196 www.conradkuhn.com Realtor856@aol.com satellite TV, heat and hot water, all included.

WashingtonYou Township pay; gas Ofﬁce cooking and electric. Subway 42 door. $1,200 / month. and 5070 bus atRoute the front 215-416-5545. Available May 2008. This is a Turnersville, NJ 08012 _______________________________32-18 5 bedroom, 2 Baths Bank Repo only $45,000! Payments from $199/month! 5% down, 20

��

�� _______________________________32-16

3 Bedroom Bank foreclosure only $207/month! 4 bedroom, 2 bath home only $238/month! 5% down, 20 years @8% apr! For listings

20�� Lakeview Rd., Lambertville, New Jersey ��

�� _______________________________32-16 �� ___________________________________

Art Museum Area-- off 26th St. (800 N. Bambrey, 19130) Corner house on quiet street, close to public transportation. Newly renovated, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, hardwood floors, AC, laundry, deck, PARKING, wired. $1600+ call 215-990-4850. Go to kratzworks. com for pix. _______________________________33-20 �� Two bedroom split-level apartment on second floor of row home at 20th and Christian streets. LR, kitchen/dining, bath, small foyer. On-street parking, pets okay. Utilities separate. $875+two months deposit. Scott 267.736.6743. _______________________________33-18 �� 1 BR apts. avail. Various choices. $750 to $1000/mo. Call soon, 215-901-0041. _______________________________33-21 �� 3 room apartment, living room, kitchen, bath, and bedroom (all Large rooms) 2nd floor, private entrance. $1000.00 month, includes utilities. Call 215 686-3431 or 215-468-9166 evenings. _______________________________33-24 �� Entire 3rd floor apartment for rent has large eat-in kitchen with ice maker, built in micro, d/w, garb disp. lots of counter and storage. hall closet, very large living room, rent includes all channel Tevo. bathroom has a washer/dryer, another hall closet and two bedrooms with more closets. Heat and hot water is also included. $1,200.00/month. This is a non-smoking building. 215-416-5545. _______________________________33-20

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Have your own bedroom in a beautiful split

level home with 2 gay men. House is 4 BR, 2 �� Lovely 3 W/D, bd. 1upper ba. fully furnished home in full baths, and lower decks, use of beautiful secluded gay court. 2 blocks to �� kitchen. Property is by Welsh & the Boulevard, 1 �� beach, jitney at corner. Long season-12,500. min. to 58 bus. We ask only that you be at least �� reasonably neat and employed. Rent is $600 + _______________________________32-17 �� 1/3 utils. Contact Dave at 215-698-0215. �� _______________________________33-19 Lg. twhnse, 3 BR, 2.5 BA. No pets or smoking. �� NE Phila. house to share. $350/mo. Call Jim, �� _______________________________32-19 215-821-1062. �� _______________________________33-18 �� Best selection�� of affordable rentals. Full/partial �� weeks. Call for free brochure. Open daily. Beach blk. Share lovely 3 BR house w/senior �� Holiday Real Estate. 1-800-638-2102 Online citizen. Full house privileges. Must be em�� ployed. $950/mo. Call Jim at 609-458-3711 �� _______________________________32-16

to discuss details. eld, Debordieu, The _______________________________33-19 Jewels of the South Carolina Coast. House/ condo 2rentals. Beach start cable. here! Share BR apt. Uppervacations Darby, W/D, www.lachicotte.com. For availability call 1$350. Call 610-352-1188. _______________________________33-21 _______________________________32-16 Roommate wanted to share home in Norristown. $600/mo. + half utils. Ref. req. Must love cats. call 610-270-0288. No drugs. _______________________________33-21

��

�� Super-private 5 1/2 acres with views, stream, waterfall, 20’ X 36’ pool. Fully funished 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 4 TVs, 1 ﬂat screen, DSL, stereo, grand piano, eat-in kitchen. Vine-covered dining deck. $5000 per month. June to

��

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JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

CLASSIFIEDS

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REAL ESTATE

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PT. PLEASANT, PA

Open floor plan, Galley Kitchen, Livingroom w/ pine plank flooring & exposed ceiling beams. Main floor bedroom, full bath. Butterfly stairs to large second bedroom, skylights, full bath. Butterfly, (half a circular stairs), down to the family room, 1/2 bath, firplace, W/D. Terraced on hillside in a quaint River Village. 18’x30’ deck wraps around house to a covered porch in front. Broker Participation 3%.

FOR SALE BY OWNER. $299,000 Creative offers considered Vinnie Stauffer 215-297-0776 www.realtor.com – look up 4830 River Road, New Hope

Michael Singer Real Estate

PREFERRED

“Your PerfectPartner” 215-546-2700

CENTER CITY AROUND TOWN RENTALS

Reduced Rittenhouse Square

RITTENHOUSE SQUARE/FITLER SQUARE/UNIVERSITY CITY •20TH & WALNUT – SUPER DELUXE ONE BEDROOM, H/W FLOORS, VERY BRIGHT, C/A, D/W, W/D, HI-CEILINGS,AVAIL. NOW! $1,250 •23RD & PINE – TWO BEDROOM ACROSS FROM FITLER SQ. PARK, H/W, HEAT/HOT WATER INCLUDED,LAUNDRY, AVAIL. JUNE/JULY! $1,565 •16 & RODMAN – ADORABLE TWO BEDROOM TRINITY HOME, H/W, CENTRAL AIR,W/D, SHARED COURTYARD,DOGS WELCOME, AVAIL. NOW! $1,275

WASHINGTON SQUARE WEST/AVENUE OF THE ARTS/OLD CITY •5TH & LOMBARD – BEAUTIFUL THREE BEDROOM HOUSE, H/W FLOORS, C/A, D/W, WASHER/DRYER, PRIVATE PARKING GARAGE, 2 1⁄2 BATHS, AVAIL. JULY! $1,875 •10TH & CLINTON – BRIGHT ONE BEDROOOM W/ VIEW OF CLINTON ST., HEAT/ HOT WATER INCLUDED,H/W FLOORS, LAUNDRY ON PREMISES, AVAIL. JULY! $925 •2ND & MARKET – MODERN ONE BEDROOM W/ HI-CEILINGS, H/W, WASHER/DRYER, C/A, D/W,MICROWAVE, AVAIL. JUNE! $1,075 •11TH & PINE – COZY ONE BEDROOM W/ EXPOSED BRICK, H/W FLOORS,LAUNDRY, AVAIL. MID-JUNE!

1117 SPRUCE STREET • PHILADELPHIA, PA 19107 #215-925-RENT E-MAIL: rent@msreco.com www.michaelsingerre.com

$845

251 S. 22nd St. G - Chandler Place 1700+ sqft bilvel condo in hisotric building in park like setting. Old world charm with new kitchen. Assigned parking. Elev. bldg. 3 exposures $765,000

Reduced Washington Square

The Victory Bldg. $259,000 1001 Chestnuts St. #206W also rent $1400 1 BR (984 sqft) with alcove, new bath & kitchen.

Rittenhouse Square

1431 Spruce St. $229,000 - $599,000 5 custom, renovated condos with wd ﬂs, SS appliances, W/D, Original detail, storage & location from Kimmel Center.

Art Museum 2601 Pennsylvania Ave.

#331 Corner 1 BR (952 sqft), renov kitch & bath, wood ﬂoors, great closets. $239,900 #633 1 BR (589 sqft) parquet ﬂoors newer bath. $197,500 also for rent

CALL FOR INFO

From contract to closing let us assist you with all your Real Estate needs.

Kate: 215-840-0049 Kathleen: 215-850-3876 katef@cbpref.com kfederico@cbpref.com

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

REAL ESTATE

SALE

Make your tastebuds dance...

CLASSIFIEDS

REAL ESTATE

SALE

Noon - 1:00 1608 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19103

www.philarealtyexchange.com

AVENUE OF THE ARTS 250 S. 13th Street- 1 br, doorman building, hw fl, tenant occupied $230,000 Kera Ritter 1326 SPRUCE ST (Center City One)-2br, 2 bth, 29th fl views $399,000 Tom Gangemi 1326 Spruce St-1br, 1bth, on 24th fl, high ceilings, balcony w/ south views, $282,500 Tom Gangemi GERMANTOWN 502 W. Harvey St- Large home, 4br Twin , 2.5 baths, hw floors, servant’s stairs, porch, yard $249,000 Janis Dubin SOUTH PHILADELPHIA 1904 S. 9th St- 2br home in Bella Vista w/ large living room, $139,900 John Perno

RITTENHOUSE 2025 CHANCELLOR ST-(Wanamaker House) 3 br, 2.5 bth townhouse comes w/rooftop pool, fitness, deeded parking, hw fl, recessed light, stainless steel appliances and 24hr doorman, plus much, much more, $795,000 Alison Ermilio 226 W. RITTENHOUSE SQ -2 br/den. 2 bth, newly renovated, with park view, $895,000 Tom Gangemi 401 S. 17th St-401 S. 17th: Quaint space, great location, new kitchen, commercial on 1st floor. $499,900. Kera Ritter

NEW LISTING- THE PHEONIX

#1602- 925 sq ft, 1/1, $2075 MO Tom Gangemi #520- 1,001 sq ft, 1b/1bth $2160MO Tom Gangemi #1714- 1,090 sq ft, 1⁄2, $2400 MO Tom Gangemi #619- 995 sq ft, 1/1, $2170 MO Tom Gangemi #1806- 1,467 sw ft, 2/2, $3550 MO Tom Gangemi #721- 995 sq ft, 1/1, $3200 MO Tom Gangemi #903- 965 sw ft, 1/1, $2120 MO Tom Gangemi #1906- 1,287 sq ft, 2/2, $3100 MO Tom Gangemi #1006-house 1,090$1800 sq ft, MO 1/1.1Janis , $2325Dunis #2009- 867 sq ft, studio, $2400 MO tom Gangemi MO Tom Gangemi 2314 REED ST- 6brm 3512 BARING ST – Studio, utilities included in rent starting at $900 MO Kera Ritter 1513 S. 31ST-Ultra Modern 1 BR, 1 BA with deck in Gray’s Ferry. Avail May 1 - $575 MO NO PETS Janis Dubin 502 W. HARVEY ST-4br Twin w/ porch, yard avail July 1 $1800 MO Janis Dubin COMMERCIAL SPACE FOR RENT 1608 SPRUCE ST-Spacious Commercial Ofﬁce Space on 2nd Floor, Kit, Storage in bsmt, $2000 250 S. 13TH -1 bedroom. Hw/ﬂ, pets ok, heat included. Avail August 1. $1200 MO Kera Ritter 502 W. HARVEY ST-4br Twin w/ porch, yard avail July 1 $1800 MO Janis Dubin CAREER OPPORTUNITY FOR FULL TIME SALES AGENT- FOR INTERVIEW CALL OFFICE SPECIALIZING IN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT-CONDOS AND APARTMENTS 2-10 UNITS PHOENIX-UNIT

PGN

REAL ESTATE

SALE

Open Houses Sunday June 14, 2009

Various, one and two bedroom condos available for rent in Logan Square. You can live, rent and play in the Phoenix building, while enjoying all the amenities that the Phoenix has to offer. OPEN HOUSE EVERY SUN-MON, 12:00-3:00pm, Call Tom Gangemi 484-654-6117or email tomjgangemi@aol.com for an appt and more info. RENTALS IN AND AROUND TOWN

REAL ESTATE

SALE

FOR RENT

Dining Guide

PAGE 83

NORTH HANOVER- Beautiful log home situated on over 16 acres boasting 3BR, 2BA, LR, DR, balcony/loft area, full basement, 2 car garage, and patio. $749,000

813 N. Bambrey St. NEW Listing. Newer 3 bd. 1.5 ba with ﬁnished lower level and nice rear garden. Great Art Museum Location ........................ ........................................................................Priced to sell..... $300,000

136-138 N. 2nd St. “MALT HOUSE” condo. This is a very large 1 bd. 1ba. condo with a big private terrace. Good condition and priced to sell ...................................................................................................$279,000

1222 Spruce St. Unit 3. “NEW Listing” Contemporary 2 bedroom, 1 bath condo with wo od ﬂoors, high ceilings, marble bath, large deluxe granite and S/S kitchen. Low condo fee and 10 year tax abatement. Located in the heat of Washington Sq. West. ...................ONLY $350,000 1:30 - 2:30 2118 Montrose St. New Listing. Totally rehabbed extra large 2 bd. 2 1/2 ba. w/ wood ﬂoor, garnite & S/S deluxe kitchen. landscaped garden. Roof deck. A must see...............................................................$325,000

416 S 10th St. NEW LISTING. Large update 4 bd. 2ba. with huge garden and wonderfully roof deck with city skyline views. ........$734,000

136-138 N. 2nd St. “MALT HOUSE” condo. This is a very large 1 bd. 1ba. condo with a big private terrace. Good condition and priced to sell. ............................................................................................$300,000

Search all Philadelphia area listings @ www.thephillyrealtors.com

BURLINGTON- Old World Charm colonial featuring large LR, DR, great room, octagon sitting room, 3BR, 1.5BA, sun porch, full basement and 2 car garage. $254,000

Dan Tobey

The Curtis Center 170 W. Independence Mall , Suite L-44 Philadelphia, PA 19106

215.546.2700 Business • 267.238.1061 Direct 215.432.7151 Cell • 215.546.7728 Fax dtobey@cbpref.com

SOUTHAMPTON- Cozy log cabin with 2BR, 1BA, EIK, LR, large screened in porch and private dock. Home is located right next to the Rancocas Creek. $229,900

RE/MAX Tri County 2275 St. Hwy. #33 Suite 308 Hamilton, NJ 08690 Ofﬁce: 609-587-9300 Ext.420

Res: 609-298-4283 E-Mail: Valerie@belardoteam.com Website: www.valeriebelardo.com Each Ofﬁce Is Indepdently Owned & Operated PLUMSTED- Victorian home sitting across from a beautiful lake. This home boasts 3BR, LR, DR large FR/sunroom, front porch and 4 car garage. $289,900

SOUTHAMPTON- Custom one of a kind creek front property with private deck, 2BR, 1.5BA, LR, DR, ofﬁce and loft. $329,900

PGN

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REAL ESTATE

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REAL ESTATE

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JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

REAL ESTATE

SALE

REAL ESTATE

SALE

“PROUD to be your Realtor” “Call me today to ﬁnd out how to take advantage of the ﬁrst time home buyer’s tax credit of $8000” Kim Douglas, REALTOR®

Coldwell Banker Preferred Village Square Shopping Center 714-716 DeKalb Pike Blue Bell, PA 19422 Oﬃce: 215.641.2727 Direct: 267.419.1455 kdouglas@cbpref.com kimdouglashomes.com

1102 Eldridge Ave. Haddon Township, NJ 08107 $ 289,900

A wonderful residence for any professional cook or somebody that just loves the art.

PGN

Support the advertisers who support our community.

5070 Route 42 Turnersville, NJ 08012 (856) 227-1950

Call Mark Nichols for more information: Oﬃce: 856-227-1950 Cell: 856-275-4173

MAY 112- 7, 2009 JUNE - 18, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS CLASSIFIEDS

�� REAL ESTATE �SALE ��

For Center City Rentals Call

PAGE PAGE 8547

San Francisco Home for Sale Billy Goat Hill Park Area

Joseph N. Reilly Real Estate Inc.

Duplex 4br, 1ba over a second 4br, 1ba seperate dining areas circa 1903 $1,170,000

215-735-9939

Jeff Goudy 609-703-0680

�� 17137 South Street �� Philadelphia, PA 19146 ��

��

Availabilities from studios to luxury town homes. Now or during the summer. Here is a listing of some of our rentals. Call for other availabilities.

Rittenhouse Square Area - Studio in the Wanamaker �� House $1300 plus electric. ��

Bonaparte House - �� 1 B/R 260 s. 9th $1200 plus electric. ��

�� Olde City - 1 B/R 122 Chestnut st. $1400 plus utilities. ��

��

Bonaparte House - �� 2 B/R 260 S. 9th St. $2000 plus �� utilities ��

�� Graduate Hospital Area - 3 B/R 762 16th St. $1900 plus utilities

E-mail us: pgn@epgn.com Society Hill Area - House, 2706 South St. $1400 plus utilities

��

Naval Square Area - 2219 Bainbridge St. $2700 plus utilities

��

IT ONLY FEELS LIKE AN EMERGENCY. ��

��. Furness Flats. Large 2 bed, 1 bath. last unit left in this highly desirable building. Close to all Center City Hospitals. Low fees and taxes ................................��

Place your free

�� “George T. Sale Condo” Unique Garden level 1 bd, 1 ba. unit w/ private entrance.. Low fees & Tax online Abatement. classiﬁeds ad at1www.philagaynews.com Lowest price bd. in area ........................��.

PGN

��

OnlinePersonals

��. New open style 2 bedroom, 1 bath condo with low taxes and condo fees. Great small pet friendly building. .........................................................................�� Old Swedes Court. New Listing Large 3 Bedroom 2.5 Bath with Garage, roof deck and hardwood ﬂoors. Low association fees in Queen Village ....................��

��. NEW LISTING. Large update 4 bd. 2 ba. with huge garden and wonderfully roof deck with city skyline views. .................................................................................��

��

83 East Lake Drive Audubon, NJ

Landmark Home “The home with the tree thru it”. You’re invited to come see this extraordinary home with water views! 5 bed, 41/2 bath with in-law suite and a separate cottage for guests. Beautiful inside and out

4028 Ann Dover gardens Atlantic City, NJ

Come discover the other side of Atlantic City in lower Chelsea. Cherry Grove in Atlantic City/Ventnor 3 bed, 1 bath, private,friendly court, 2 blks to beach! Avail yr round, call Nicole for details 856-912-7496 730 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, NJ 08108 Phone: 856-858-2200 • Toll Free: 1-888-house-08 601 Station Ave., Haddon Heights, NJ 08035 Phone: 856-547-5678 • Fax: 856-547-5220

www.MainStRealty.com

Look at us in a whole new way.

Online Personals, Comments, Polls, Community Listings

www.philagaynews.com PAGE 86 CLASSIFIEDS

The new PGN Web site at:

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

REAL ESTATE

SALE

CLASSIFIEDS

REAL ESTATE

SALE

HADDONFIELD 501 Warwick Road

Turn of the century Victorian featuring 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, large family room with custom built bookshelves and gas ﬁreplace. Updated kitchen and baths, plus oversized lot with 12 zone sprinkler system, 3 zone air conditioner and 2 zone heat. $799,000

(MLS# 5485205) Call 428-9677 x 225

VACATION

Studio Condo Ogunquit, Maine

SECLUDED BUCKS SPREAD Super-private 5 1/2 acres with views, stream, waterfall, 20’ X 36’ pool. Fully funished 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 4 TVs, 1 ﬂat screen, DSL, stereo, grand piano, eat-in kitchen. Vine-covered dining deck. $5000 per month. June to Sept. billwrite@aol.com _______________________________33-24 OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND Best selection of affordable rentals. Full/ partial weeks. Call for FREE brochure. Open daily. Holiday Real Estate. 1-800-638-2102 Online reservations www.holidayoc.com _______________________________33-24 A GREAT VACATION VALUE!! Clean, Safe, & only a tank away. America’s Greatest FAMILY Resort Ocean City, NJ (800) 786-8884 or visit our website www.AcademyRealEstate.com _______________________________33-24

RENT

Sleeps 4, pool, ocean view, full kitchen, dining area, deck. Close to Marginal way and centrally located. $850+tax a week. Available various weeks in July and August.

Contact Larry 610-453-3555

LEGAL NOTICE Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord wants to put money back in your wallet! Treasury is seeking the owners of over $1 billion in unclaimed property. Search www.patreasury.org. You could have money waiting for you! _______________________________33-24

RENT

PGN

REAL ESTATE

RENT

12TH & DICKINSON ST. 3 room apartment, living room, kitchen, bath, and bedroom (all Large rooms) 2nd floor, private entrance. $1000.00 month, includes utilities. Call 215 686-3431 or 215-468-9166 evenings. _______________________________33-28 AVENUE OF THE ARTS Entire 3rd floor apartment for rent has large eat-in kitchen with ice maker, built in micro, d/w, garb disp. lots of counter and storage. hall closet, very large living room, rent includes all channel Tevo. bathroom has a washer/dryer, another hall closet and two bedrooms with more closets. Heat and hot water is also included. $1,200.00/month. This is a non-smoking building. 215-416-5545. _______________________________33-28 NEW HOPE OVERLOOKING DELAWARE Walk to shops, restaurants and theater. 3 BR, 3 BA, LR w/F/P, formal DR, eat in custom kit w/tile flrs. D/W, W/D, lg. family rm, C/A, screen porch, pool, deck on river. $2200/mo. 215-542-5642. _______________________________33-25 AVAILABLE NOW! 5bd 2ba Home only $435/mo! 3bd 1ba Condo only $300/mo! Free Info & Listings 800-5168301. _______________________________33-24 CHARMING 2 BEDROOM APARTMENT Light filled second floor apartment in private home located in Morrisville, Pa. Minutes to Rt. 1, 95 and the train station. Be in New York and Philadelphia in no time. Not to mention a lovely 20 minute drive along the river to New Hope. Includes storage, private laundry with washer/dryer and off street parking. No pets/ no smoking. $925 plus electric. Call 215-8023550 for appointment. _______________________________33-25 19XX S. CHADWICK ST. Live on a gay street! Rent a row house in back of St. Agnes Hospital in South Philly, 1 block from public transportaton. 1 BR, 1 BA, 3 floors including finished basement, W/D, new stove, new refrigerator, garbage disposal, private back yard. $800 per month., Available 7/1/09. Call 717-589-7828 or 215-917-4261. _______________________________33-27 Affordable! Great Area! 3bd 2ba Home only $275/mo! Rent Applied to Down Payment! For Free Info & Listings 800-516-8301 _______________________________33-24 2bd 2ba only $540/mo! Downtown Living! Great Area! More Homes Available from $300/mo! Free Info & Listings 800-516-8301. _______________________________33-24

Gay is our middle name.

PAGE 87

HELP WANTED

Over 18? Between High School and College? Travel and Have Fun w/Young Successful Business Group. No Experience Necessary. 2wks Paid Training. Lodging, Transportation Provided. 1-877-646-5050. _______________________________33-24 Driver CDL-A. OTR Dry Van Drivers! WESTERN EXPRESS offers Professional Equipment, 1-Day Orientation. Great Hometime & Beneﬁts. Class-A CDL, 22 YO Required 866-863-4009 _______________________________33-24

AWESOME CAREER $20/hr Avg, $57K/yr, Postal Jobs. Pd Training, Vacations, OT, Full Benefits, Pension Plan. Call M-F, 8-5 CST. 1-888-361-6551 Ext 1031. _______________________________33-24 POST OFFICE NOW HIRING! Avg. Pay $21/hour or $54K annually including Federal Benefits and OT. Paid Training. Vacations. PT/FT 1-866-945-0341. _______________________________33-24 $12.00 GUARANTEED For every envelope stuffed with our sales material plus a free sign on bonus. FREE 24 hour information 1-866-526-0078. _______________________________33-24 34 Driver Trainees Needed. Werner Enterprises. Drive the BIG Rigs. No CDL, No Problem. No Credit, No Problem. $700-$800/week +Benefits Call Now! 1-800-961-4319. _______________________________33-24 34 Driver Trainees Needed. Werner Enterprises. Drive the BIG Rigs. No CDL, No Problem. No Credit, No Problem. $700-$800/week +Benefits Call Now! 1-800-961-4319. _______________________________33-24 NOW AVAILABLE! 2009 POST OFFICE JOBS. $18-$20/hr. NO EXPERIENCE, PAID TRAINING, FED BENEFITS, VACATIONS. CALL 1-800-910-9941 TODAY! Ref #PA09. _______________________________33-24

Alexander Inn

Hotel desk clerk for full or part time. Must have prior hotel experience with references. Good salary plus bonus pkg. Apply in person or call days. Call John 215-923-3535 Let’s Talk!

CASHIERS + CLEANERS

Full or Part time All shifts available Apply in Person Sansom St. Gym 2020 Sansom Street Philadelphia, PA 19103

ROOMMATES PGN WILL NOT PUBLISH RACIAL DISTINCTIONS IN ROOMMATE ADS. SUCH NOTATIONS WILL BE EDITED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION. ___________________________________ GREATER NE PHILA. Have your own bedroom in a beautiful split level home with 2 gay men. House is 4 BR, 2 full baths, W/D, upper and lower decks, use of kitchen. Property is by Welsh & the Boulevard, 1 min. to 58 bus. We ask only that you be at least reasonably neat and employed. Rent is $600 + 1/3 utils. Contact Dave at 215-698-0215. _______________________________33-24 OVERBROOK PARK/CITY LINE Share house, furn. BR, cable, W/D, A/C. Avail. now. $450/mo. incl. utils. 215-850-7900. _______________________________33-23 NEWARK, DE GAY/STRAIGHT HOUSE Rm in 6 bd castle $500 incl uti.l 3 cats. 302438-5037 Reduced rent for housework/elder care. _______________________________33-23

Online

CRC, CVE

bility

PAGE 108 PAGE 88

CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS

��

APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2008

Is it time to look for a new doctor?

��

FOR SALE ONLINE PHARMACY Buy Soma, Ultram, Fioricet, Prozac, Buspar $71.99/90 $107/180 Quantities. PRICE INCLUDES PRESCRIPTION! Over 200 meds $25 Coupon. Mention Offer:# 21A31. 1-888531-6744. tri-pharmacy.info _______________________________33-24 Metal Rooﬁng and Siding: Buy Direct, We manufacture and cut to your length, also a large supplier of Pole Building material 1-800373-3703 www.abmartin.net _______________________________33-24 GET YOUR NEW Power Wheelchairs, Power Scooters and Hospital Beds at absolutely NO COST if you qualify!! Fastest delivery available!! Call Toll Free 1-800-470-7562. _______________________________33-24

BUSINESS

OPPORTUNITIES

CLASSIFIEDS

��

APRILJUNE 25 - MAY 1, 2008 12 - 18, 2009

APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2008

VANGUARD CLEANING SYSTEMS FRANCHISE Commercial Ofﬁce Cleaning. Operate a Business that YOU own! Since 1984, as low as $1500 down, Equipment, Support, Customers. Phone: 717-260-3678. _______________________________33-24 ALL CASH VENDING! Do you earn $800 in a day? Your own local candy route. Includes 25 Machines and Candy All for $9,995. 1-800-460-4027. _______________________________33-24

Want to let mom, dad and all of your exs know you’re tying the knot?

Want to let mom, dad SERVICES and all of your �� exs know Wa you’re AUTOS m tying the a knot? o Send Send us us your wedding/civil ex wedding/civil union/

PAGE 108

Is it time to look for a new doctor? ��

ATTEND COLLEGE ONLINE From Home. *Medical, *Business, *Paralegal, *Computers, *Criminal Justice. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualiﬁed. Call 866-858-2121 www.CenturaOnline.com _______________________________33-24 AIRLINES ARE HIRING CLASSIFIEDS Train for high paying Aviation Maintenance Career. FAA approved program. Financial aid if qualiﬁed -Housing available. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance (888)349-5387. _______________________________33-24

DONATE VEHICLE Receive $1000 Grocery Coupon. Noah’s Arc Support No Kill Shelters. Research to Advance Veterinary Treatments. Free Towing, Tax Deductible, Non-Runners accepted 1-866-912-GIVE _______________________________33-24 2004 Honda Accord only $2500! Leather Interior! Low Mileage! Police Seized and Repos! Free info & lists 800-760-3643. _______________________________33-24 2001 Jeep Wrangler $750! Cars, Trucks, SUVs from $500! Police Seized and Repos! Free info & lists 800-760-3643. _______________________________33-24 Cars from $500! Hondas, Acuras and More! Police Inpounds! Free info & lists 800-7603643. _______________________________33-24

ADOPTION ADOPT Childless loving woman (teacher) wishes to adopt a newborn. Financially secure home with close extended family. Legal/Conﬁdential. Expenses paid. Please call Denise: 1-866-2014602 Pin#01960. _______________________________33-24 A childless-married couple seeks to adopt & share our lives with a newborn. Fulltime mom & devoted dad. Financially-stable, expensespaid. Call Lorraine & Vic 877-212-2651. _______________________________33-24

commitment commitment ceremony ceremony announcement announcement and and we’ll we’ll share it with with the the City of Brotherly Brotherly Love.

E-mail information to editor@epgn.com or fax us at (215) 925-6437.

PAGE 110 PAGE 110 JUNE PAGE12 110- 18, 2009 PAGE 110

CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS

APRIL 25 25 - MAY MAY 1, 1, 2008 2008 APRIL APRIL 25 - -MAY 1, 2008 PAGE 89

PAGE 106

LEGAL & PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

AMY F. STEERMAN Attorney at Law

Concentrating in Planning for Lesbian and Gay Couples • Probate • Wills • Living Wills • Powers of Attorney

215-735-1006

1900 Spruce Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 www.amysteerman.com

CLASSIFIEDS

Terence S. Brady, Esq. Legal Representation In New Jersey Drunk Driving, Speeding, All Traﬃc Cases, Family Matters, Divorce, Visitation, Custody Criminal Matters, Real Estate Purchases, MARCH 28 - APRIL 3, 2008 Foreclosures

CLASSIFIEDS

Mt. Holly, N.J. 609 504 6310

LEGAL & PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

James M. M.SPACE Quesenberry, MA, CRC,CVE CVE AMY F.William STEERMAN A. Torchia, Esquire THIS ISMA, YOURS James Quesenberry, CRC, Attorney-at-Law Disability Consultant James M. Quesenberry, MA, CRC, CVE Attorney at Law Disability Consultant

$25.00 * Consultant Estate & Tax Planning Concentrating in Planning OnlyDisability for Lesbian and Gay Couples GENERAL PRACTICE FORSocial THE COMMUNITY Security Disability Week! SocialPer Security Disability �� • Probate • Wills �� • Living Wills �� • Powers of Attorney �� CLASSIFIEDS ��

Social Security Disability Claims Appeals Appeals �� Claims Claims Appeals �� That’s Less Than

215-629-0585 215-629-0585

215-629-0585 A Week’s Worth Of 1900�� Spruce Street Suite 202 202 Suite Double Mocha Lattes Philadelphia, PA 19103 Suite 202 Rd. �� Oxford Valley Rd. Oxford Valley

215-735-1006

��

www.amysteermman.com Oxford Valley Rd. 215-546-1950 (Voice) 215-546-8801 Fairless Hills, PA19030 19030 (Fax) Fairless Hills, PA *8 Week Minimum

Fairless Hills, PA 19030

Torchia & Kaufmann, L.L.C. Attorneys-at-Law

Estate & Tax Planning

GENERAL PRACTICE FOR THE COMMUNITY

PROVIDING DIRECT LEGAL SERVICES, • Property Agreements • Guardianships • Social Security APRIL 25 MAY 1, 2008 • Accidents • Real Estate • Elder Law EDUCATION & 1528 Walnut St. Suite 1220, Philadelphia, PA 19102 POLICY REFORM 215-546-1950 (Voice) 215-546-8801 (Fax) FOR THE LGBT � � � � � THISCOMMUNITY. SPACE IS YOURS • Estate Administration • Wills, Living Wills, Trusts • Powers of Attorney

• Domestic Relations • Incorporation • Adoption • Criminal • Name Change • Immigration

GALLOP

PARTNERS IN LAW PARTNERS IN LIFE

Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia Bar Association Serving Southeastern PA., South Jersey; and Delaware. Organized to promote civil and human rights. GALLOP Referral Service provides free referrals to attorneys sensitive to the needs of the community For info or a referral, call 215-627-9090 P.O. Box 58279, Penn Center Station, Phila., PA 19102 www.galloplaw.org

MINSTER & FACCIOLO, LLC

this space: only $25 per week*

APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2008

• WILLS & ESTATES • • DISCRIMINATION • • SMALL BUSINESS • • DIVORCE • James M. Quesenberry, MA, CRC, CVE • EMPLOYMENT • Consultant •Disability REAL ESTATE • • CIVIL ACTIONS • • AUTO ACCIDENTS • Social Security Disability • POWER OF ATTORNEY • Claims PARTNERS Appeals • • DOMESTIC

Only $25.00* Per Week! FREE LEGAL HOTLINE (215) 731-1477

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Your ad dollars go further when you target your 215-629-0585 215-627-8200 PA audience 302-777-2201 DE Suite 202 *when you run for a minimum of 8 weeks

Jeremy R. Gussick Financial Advisor

Smith Barney

1211 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19107

215-238-5849 jeremy.r.gussick@smithbarney.com A division of Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. Member SIPC

A M W

forme

PRO LEG E PO FO C

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www

521 Valley S. 2NDRd. ST., PHILA., PA Oxford APPT. ALSO AVAIL IN DE & NJ Fairless Hills, PA 19030

Financial Advice for the GLBT Community

Charles S. Frazier, Esq. Attorney at Law

• General Practice • Wills and Trusts • Living Wills • Powers of Attorney • Cohabitation Agreements

Wayne, PA (610) 687-4077 cstar1@verizon.net

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Gregory H. Quig

Attorney at L Real Estate / Zoni Liquor Licenses an

1822 S. Broad St. Philadlephia, PA 19145

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3000 Market Street Suite 201 Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 243-3450

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2008 PAGE 90

CLASSIFIEDS 107 JUNE 12 PAGE - 18, 2009

HOME IMPROVEMENT DIRECTORY G.I. CONTRACTORS Complete start to finish contractors:

Electrical • Plumbing Carpentry • Ceramic Tile Siding • Rooﬁng • Decks DJK Rooﬁng Kitchens & Baths

24 hour emergency service 15 West Walnut Ave Insured with certiﬁ ed technicans Westmont, NJ 08108 State License 267-240-7535 (856) 869-4300 215-917-6328 # 13VH01175500 job too small! Fax (856) No 869-9680 Bonded

DE SANTIS

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Ofﬁce: (215) 336-0156

• Installation

• Maintenance Contracts • Hot Water Heaters • Boilers & Furnaces

Residential & Commercial

RESTORATION CONSTRUCTION INC. • KITCHENS, BATHS • REMODELS • CUSTOM CABINETRY • DESIGN SERVICES • PRACTICING GREEN CONSTRUCTION General Contractors Licensed, Insured, References PO Box 359 Broomall, PA 610-353-2018 gjennings@randcinc.com

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JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

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CLASSIFIEDS

PAGE 91

HOME IMPROVEMENT DIRECTORY ��

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PAGE 106

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2490 Williamson Court �� Bensalem, Pa 19020 Fax�� : 215-501-8306

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CLASSIFIEDS

PAGE 92

JUNE 12 - 18, 2009

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Don’t paint yourself �� into a SERVICES DIRECTORY corner...

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215-698-0215 or

215-205-7700

MAY 1 - 7, 2009

PHILADELPHIA GAY NEWS

PAGE 53

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