PGN June 15-21, 2012 by The Philadelphia Gay News

The calm before Storm

Family Portrait: Azeem Hill

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LGBT rights leaders meet with state and federal groups

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June 15-21, 2012

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Vol. 36 No. 24

ACT UP members detained at Obama protest

PA Dems back marriage equality

By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com

During President Obama’s visit to Philadelphia this week, members of ACT UP called on him to step up his leadership for people with HIV/AIDS. W h i l e t h e p r e s ident was meeting with recently graduated seniors from Science Leadership Academy at the Franklin Institute Tuesday evening, ACT UP unfurled a banner at a neighboring parking garage that read: ACT UP “Obama: Homes not ACTIVISTS Graves for People with PROTEST PRESIDENT AIDS. Tax Wall Street; OBAMA’S Treat the People.” Officials from the PHILLY VISIT JUNE 12 Photo: Department of Homeland

Democratic leaders from throughout Pennsylvania lent their voices to the fight for marriage equality last weekend. The Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee — comprised of elected Democratic leaders from counties across the state — adopted a resolution last Saturday at its summer meeting in Valley Forge stating its support for marriage equality. The measure was spearheaded by out Adams County Democratic Chair Roger Lund. Among its provisions, the resolution stated that the Pennsylvania Democratic Party officially endorsed “freedom to marry” and called upon all Democratic lawmakers to sign on to legislation backing marriage equality. It urged all Pennsylvania delegates to September’s Democratic National Convention to back the addition of a marriage-equality plank when the party platform is adopted, and also advocated for Jim Burns, chair of the PAGE 16

Courtesy of ACT UP

PAGE 20

Both sides appeal in Ravi sentence

HOW YOU DOIN’?: Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter presented television personality Wendy Williams with her Liberty Bell Award before a packed house Sunday at Penn’s Landing. Williams, the headliner for the 24th annual Pride, answered pre-submitted questions and gave away VIP tickets to her show. Williams, who enjoyed an Ishkabibble’s cheesesteak and fries before heading back to New York, also mentioned Philadelphia’s Pride festival on Monday’s episode. Photo: Scott A. Drake

SPECIAL POST-PRIDE PULLOUT SECTION, PAGES 21-28

Boy Scouts: Policy change not in the works

By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Both sides in the landmark cyber-bullying case of Tyler Clementi have appealed Dharun Ravi’s 30-day prison sentence. Last month, prosecutors appealed the sentence, and on June 4 defense attorney Steven Altman filed his own notice of intent to appeal. New Jersey Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman handed down his sentence last month after a jury found Ravi guilty of invasion of privacy and bias intimidation. In September 2010, Ravi remotely tapped into his webcam and saw Clementi, his roommate at Rutgers University, in a sexual encounter with another man. Ravi invited others to watch and later unsuccessfully attempted to broadcast a second incident live on the PAGE 16

By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com

BROAD STREET BRIGADE: Queer women and their supporters marched along Broad Street last Saturday for the annual Dyke March. Organizers said about 500 people turned out for the event, which kicked off at Kahn Park and wended its way through Center City, embarking on a new route that for the first time took marchers onto Broad. A pre-march rally included speakers and performers. Photo: Tara Lessard

After a flurry of news reports last week that the Boy Scouts of America organization was moving closer to changing its ban on openly gay members, the agency clarified that such a change was not likely. “Contrary to media reports, the Boy Scouts of America has no plans to change its membership policy,” said a statement posted on the organization’s site last Thursday. It had been reported the night before that the agency intended to review its policy and may allow local chapters the discretion to accept openly gay members and leaders. In April, a Scouting member submitted a resolution — which BSA said expresses that person’s individual views — calling

for such a policy change, and the agency assigned that measure to a committee for consideration May 31. The committee will present a report on the resolution to the National Executive Board next May. However, BSA clarified that resolutions calling for the repeal of its antigay policy are not uncommon. “The introduction of a resolution does not indicate the organization is ‘reviewing’ a policy or signal a change in direction,” BSA stated. BSA spokesperson Deron Smith told PGN last week that there have been “a few” resolutions calling for the repeal of the policy over the years, as well as resolutions requesting the agency reaffirm the policy. “Whenever a resoluPAGE 20

REGIONAL PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

PA leaders meet with feds, state LGBT groups By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The leaders of Pennsylvania’s statewide LGBT organization gathered with dozens of other LGBT advocates last week at the White House to review and preview the LGBT accomplishments and goals of the Obama administration. Equality Pennsylvania executive director Ted Martin and board president Adrian Shanker were among the invited guests for a June 8 event organized by Equality Federation — a coalition of statewide LGBTrights groups — and Obama LGBT liaison Gautam Raghavan. The participants, who represented about 30 LGBT agencies, met with officials from a number of federal departments, including Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Education, State, Justice and the president’s executive staff. Martin said each of the federal representatives provided a valuable overview of the LGBT-specific measures and policy changes put in place in the last few years — such as the rule banning LGBT discrimination in federal housing programs and the mandate that federally funded hospitals permit patients to name their visitors. “I still get calls from people saying that they’re having trouble visiting their spouse in the hospital and this helped clarify just what the rule says,” Martin said. “This is a very

BRANDON PARISER (FROM LEFT) AND PARTNER EQUALITY PA BOARD PRESIDENT ADRIAN SHANKER, EQPA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TED MARTIN AND PARTNER DWAYNE HECKERT

important rule and something that people need during a scary time like that, so it was helpful having that pointed out again so that I can make sure we’re passing this information along to people in Pennsylvania.” The administration also reviewed the LGBT-specific provisions in such areas as health-care reform. “The Affordable Care Act is so important for LGBT families and individuals,” Shanker said. “Once it’s fully implemented, being transgender will no longer allow you to be denied health insurance for a pre-existing condition. Our community faces a lot of health-care barriers like this and many of them are addressed in the Affordable Care Act.” While the tone of the event was positive,

the LGBT leaders didn’t give the federal administration a free pass, Martin noted. “There were times when it was a bit heated, when they were questioned about times when the president didn’t move fast enough or if he hasn’t provided enough leadership. But the meeting was give and take, which is what made it work so well,” he said. “It’s a credit to the Obama administration and to the tenacity of Equality Federation that we’ve made it clear that we can help in this work and that we want to be a part of bringing about these changes. It was terrific to be sitting there as openly gay people, trans folks and allies and making our points and having them really heard.” The briefings also included a look ahead to the LGBT work yet to be accomplished. Shanker said the officials emphasized the administration’s commitment to making the Violence Against Women Act LGBT-inclusive and to advancing LGBT inclusion in such areas as customs and border control, so that LGBT couples can declare themselves as such, instead of as individuals, as currently required. “One of the biggest takeaways is that there’s so much work that still needs to be done,” Shanker said. “We’ve certainly come a long way and this has been the most supportive White House ever, but we still have a lot of policies that need to be changed and laws that need to be passed.” Shanker noted that while the current

Philadelphia Gay News

Congressional makeup presents a challenge to advancing LGBT-rights measures, LGBTs and allies still need to mobilize behind such work. “We need to work harder as a community to educate our Congressional delegation from Pennsylvania that our rights are not controversial and shouldn’t be partisan,” he said. “Even with a split Congress, we should be able to address things like workplace discrimination and repealing DOMA. Our Congressional delegation needs to be educated about the importance of prioritizing these issues.” With Pennsylvania’s state legislature also lagging on many LGBT issues, Martin said, Friday’s event was valuable in that it allowed LGBT leaders from a host of states to share experiences and ideas for advancing statelevel LGBT issues. “Equality PA has been a member of Equality Federation for a number of years, and these are people that we’re not competing with for fundraising or anything; we’re all just there to help one another,” he said. “We talked with a group in Missouri and were able to share information on best practices of passing local nondiscrimination ordinances because that’s something they’re also working on. It was a perfect opportunity for us to sit down with our colleagues for support. The state groups are really doing the grassroots hard work so it’s good to know that there are other people working on the same issues that you are.” ■

M A K E S H I S T O R Y

PGN won 10 awards from the Local Media Association for news, entertainment and column writing, page and graphic design and sections. — Highest number of awards for an LGBT publication from a mainstream journalism organization ever — PGN ranked second in the nation among weekly newspapers PGN won the following 2011 LMA editorial awards: • • • •

1st Place, Best Continuing Coverage: Stacey Blahnik murder by Jen Colletta 1st Place, Best Entertainment/Lifestyle Section: Arts & Culture Section 1st Place, Best Column Writing: Millennial Poz by Aaron Stella 1st Place, Best Graphic Artwork: Election 11/10, Regional Civil Unions/Marriage Laws, 35 Years of PGN timeline by Scott A. Drake and Sean Dorn • 1st Place, Best Non-Page One Layout: Arts & Culture Feature Story Covers by Sean Dorn • 3rd Place, Best Opinion Column: “Mark My Words” by Mark Segal • 3rd Place, Best Arts & Entertainment Criticism/Commentary: “These Women Want To Rock You With New Music” by Larry Nichols • 3rd Place, Best Special Section: “World AIDS Day” • Honorable Mention, Best Arts & Entertainment Writing-Feature: “Author Brings Her Story to the Stage in Philly” by Larry Nichols • Honorable Mention, Best In-depth Reporting: “Crystal Meth: Clubs, Culture And The Gay Community” by Jen Colletta

The Local Media Association serves over 2,000 member North American newspapers. With this year’s recognition, PGN is the most award-winning LGBT newspaper in the country, and in LGBT media history.

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SHOWING THEIR LOVE: About 200 supporters of Philadelphia AIDS Thrift took in the tunes of Dangerous Ponies at Magic Garden last Friday night. The Summer of Love party raised about $12,000 for the store, which donates its proceeds to AIDS Fund. Fundraising from the party will support the store’s pending expansion. Since its inception, the store has donated more than $400,000 to AIDS Fund and recently upped its monthly donation from $8,000 to $12,000. Photo: Scott A. Drake NEWS

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Editor

Sarah Blazucki (ext. 206) sarah@epgn.com Staff Writers Jen Colletta (ext. 215) jen@epgn.com Larry Nichols (ext. 213) larry@epgn.com Writer-at-Large Timothy Cwiek (ext. 208) timothy@epgn.com

Advertising Manager Greg Dennis greg@epgn.com Advertising Sales Representatives Prab Sandhu prab@epgn.com National Advertising Rivendell Media: 212-242-6863 Office Manager/ Classifieds Don Pignolet (ext. 200) don@epgn.com

Art Director/Photographer Scott A. Drake (ext. 210) scott@epgn.com Graphic Artist Sean Dorn (ext. 211) sean@epgn.com Executive Assistant/ Billing Manager Carol Giunta (ext. 202) carol@epgn.com Philadelphia Gay News is a member of: The Associated Press Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Suburban Newspapers of America Published by Masco Communications Inc. © 2012 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.

LOCAL PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Philly hosts foreign journalists for LGBT policy discussion By Sarah Blazucki sarah@epgn.com A group of foreign journalists visited Philadelphia last week as part of a Department of State effort to advance LGBT rights abroad, with many hailing from countries with poor records of protecting LGBT people. The 19 journalists met with community leaders June 7 at City Hall, in a roundtable discussion hosted by Gloria Casarez, city director of LGBT affairs. The journalists came from Africa (Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda), Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore), Europe (Albania, Croatia, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Turkey) and Central and South America (Chile, Dominica, Guyana, Mexico). Local participants included Casarez; David Rosenblum and Elisabeth Flynn, Mazzoni Center legal director and senior communications manager, respectively; William Way LGBT Community Center executive director Chris Bartlett; Police Advisory Committee members Jaci Adams and Rick Lombardo; Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations executive director Rue Landau; LGBT liaison and assistant district attorney Helen Fitzpatrick and LGBT liaison deputy police commissioner Steven Johnson.

The visiting journalists posed questions about Pennsylvania and U.S. policies and practices on reporting crimes, responding to abuse of LGBT people by police and family members, employment antidiscrimination law and hate-crime enhancements, as well as what challenges LGBT people still face in the States. Fitzpatrick explained how hate-crime enhancements work — adding time to a prison sentence — and noted that hatecrime statistics are not well tracked and underreported. She also explained that prosecution for sexual assaults takes approximately two years in Philadelphia, and it isn’t feasible or fair to fast-track such cases. Landau discussed the city’s antidiscrimination protections, passed for sexual orientation in 1982 and gender identity in 2002 as a result of community and political pressure, as contributing to a reduction in police harassment complaints, as well as how her organization handles employment and housing discrimination complaints. In response to a question about proving discrimination in employment and housing, Rosenblum noted that the burden of proof is on the employee to give a compelling story, while Landau added that her agency investigates allegations, sends out testers and facilitates settlements. In response to a question from a jour-

ADVANCING FOREIGN RELATIONS: A group of foreign journalists listen as Rue Landau, executive director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, conveys how her agency handles anti-LGBT bias complaints June 7 during a Department of State-sponsored roundtable discussion. The federal agency brought in 19 journalists from countries with mixed records on protecting LGBT rights for a weeklong visit to foster understanding of U.S. policies and protections for sexual and gender minorities. Photo: Scott A. Drake

nalist from Guyana about police abusing transgender individuals, Johnson said the Philadelphia police department trains officers not to pass judgment and to treat people with dignity and respect. Bartlett noted that such treatment was

a result of LGBT people insisting on that respect and pushing for visibility starting in the 1960s and ’70s, adding that the AIDS epidemic galvanized activists in the 1980s. As to issues the LGBT PAGE 9

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

LOCAL PGN

NJ church leader charged with sex abuse By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com A youth leader at a South Jersey church is facing charges after being accused of sexual abuse by a teenage boy he used to mentor. Camden County police arrested Samuel Bangs, 23, on June 9, the day after the youth reported the allegations. Bangs, a resident of Bellmawr, N.J., is charged with sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a minor and two counts of criminal sexual contact. The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office said Bangs met the boy, who is under 16, when he volunteered as a youth mentor at

Grace Bible Church, located in Barrington in Camden County. The alleged abuse occurred this spring at a number of locations, including in public parks. Bangs was no longer mentoring the youth when the alleged incidents took place. Bangs also serves as the bookkeeper and treasurer of the Camden County chapter of the Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc. A Facebook page for Bangs describes that he is affiliated with Rutgers University. The prosecutor’s office said it is only aware of the one victim but urged anyone with additional information to contact investigator Anthony Roccia at 856-225-8400. ■

Felony drug charges dropped against gay meth suspect By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Felony drug charges against local LGBT nightlife personality Joseph “Phoenix” Croxton were dropped last week. At a court proceeding June 6 in Montgomeryville, prosecutors withdrew all seven felony charges against Croxton, who was among 32 suspects arrested last month in a multi-county methamphetamine bust. The dropped charges include three counts of conspiracy for possession with the intent to deliver and one count each of corrupt organizations, possession with the intent to deliver, criminal use of a communication facility and dealing in unlawful proceeds. Croxton still faces six misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and could face up to a year in prison and a fine if convicted. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Jason Whalley, a prosecutor in the case, told PGN this week that the remaining charges are sufficient for Croxton’s alleged crimes. “After reviewing the cases and the investigation, we want to make sure the appropriate charges are brought for each person, and we feel that these are the most appropriate charges for him,” Whalley said. Eight other suspects also had hearings last Wednesday, and several of them also had felony charges dropped. Croxton waived his right to a preliminary hearing and will be formally arraigned July 18 at the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in Norristown. Still awaiting a preliminary hearing is Marissa Devine, a transgender suspect also arrested. Devine faces 20 charges — 14 felonies and six misdemeanors — stemming from a Dec. 14 offense.

The list includes several counts each of corrupt organizations, conspiracy, drug manufacturing, delivery or possession, dealing in the process of unlawful activities, criminal use of a communication facility, possession of drug paraphernalia and the intent to possess an unlawful controlled substance. W h a l l e y s a i d i nve s t i g a t o r s b e l i eve Devine was more entrenched in the ring than Croxton. “She, in our opinion, was helping to facilitate the operations of one of our targets,” he said. Among the suspected leaders of the ring are Hatfield resident Frank Messina, Schwenksville r e s i d e n t Tr o y Dudas and brothers Jeff and Dave Penna of Hatfield and Lansdale, CROXTON (TOP) respectively. AND DEVINE Whalley said it was unclear what role the ring played in supplying the drug to the LGBT community. “As far as funneling it to the gay community, we don’t have any indication if that was going on or not,” he said. Devine is scheduled to be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. July 5 in Courtroom A of the Montgomery County Courthouse, 2 E. Airy St. in Norristown, before Judge Richard Hodgson. ■

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

NATIONAL PGN

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Senate committee considers nondiscrimination By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com For the first time in nearly three years, legislation to ban workplace discrimination against LGBTs received a hearing before federal lawmakers. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions accepted testimony on the Employment NonDiscrimination Act Tuesday. The occasion marked the first time that an openly transgender person has testified before the Senate. No Republican legislators attended. ENDA, which has been stalled in both chambers of Congress for years, would ban

discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at companies with more than 15 employees. The hearing was announced shortly after Pennsylvania’s Sen. Bob Casey (D), a cosponsor of the bill, and other lawmakers pressed committee leadership on the issue. In a statement released Tuesday, Casey said he’s eager for the legislation to move forward. “I hope that this is the first step toward swift and bipartisan passage in both the Senate and the House,” he said. “ENDA embodies the American ideal of fairness: Employees should be judged on their skills and abilities in the workplace and not on their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Among the witnesses were attorney Kylar Broadus, founder and executive director of Trans People of Color Coalition, who talked about his own experiences of discrimination as a transgender employee. After his transition nearly 20 years ago, Broadus said he was forced out of his position at a major financial agency and faced workplace harassment that left him with post-traumatic stress disorder that he still struggles with. He said his financial losses over the years have also been great due to un- and underemployment. “I’m one of the fortunate people who is employed. But there are many more like me who are not employed as a result of just being who they are,” he said. “It’s devastating, demoralizing and dehumanizing to be in that position.” The committee also heard from Dr. M.V. Lee Badgett, research director at the University of California, Los Angeles, who briefed lawmakers on the state of employment discrimination throughout the country. “Research overwhelming demonstrates that ENDA is necessary to fight discrimina-

tion and would benefit both employees and employers,” she testified. Also testifying were University of Michigan law professor Samuel Bagenstos and General Mills vice president of diversity and inclusion Ken Charles. Craig Parshall, senior vice president and general counsel for National Religious Broadcaster Association, was the sole witness to testify against ENDA. In his opening statement, committee chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), an ENDA cosponsor, pointed to the commonsense need for the measure. “It’s long past time we eliminate bigotry in the workplace and ensure equal opportunities for all Americans,” he said. “It’s time to make clear that LGBT Americans are firstclass citizens. They are full and welcomed members of our American family, and they deserve the same civil-rights protections as all other Americans.” Also Tuesday, Freedom to Work, which advocates for LGBT workplace protections, sent an open letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) calling for a full Senate vote on ENDA this summer. ■

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Local film to highlight trans aging issues By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Participants at a recent Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference panel on trans aging got a firsthand preview of some of the topics that will be addressed in an upcoming documentary from a first-time Philadelphia filmmaker. Joe Ippolito’s “Growing Old Gracefully” will explore the myriad issues facing transgender people as they approach their twilight years, with a focus on five elders from the Philadelphia region, as well as a wealth of supporting interviews. The film — which Ippolito conceived of shortly after he turned 40 and began talking with fellow trans people about feeling unprepared to grow older — is about to enter its post-production phase, with an estimated release date next spring. Ippolito, a licensed clinical social worker and counseling professor, currently has about 50 hours of video footage that he and his editor will cut to make the finished product about an hour-and-a-half. The project has been supported by a $2,500 Art and Change grant from Leeway Foundation, and Ippolito has also been funding the work from his own pocket. The five elders highlighted in the film all took part in the PTHC panel discussion, relating the experiences they shared on film. Ippolito said the subjects run the gamut in age, race, identity, class and other factors, but all illustrate the pressures and fears of aging in the transgender community. “None of the five people felt prepared for growing older,” Ippolito said, noting that some of the subjects are grappling with finances or with a lack of social support. “All of them are not as emotionally prepared as they would like to be for aging JOURNALISTS from page 5

community still faces, Casarez said that, at the state level, “we are often trying to block people trying to roll back our rights,” citing relationship recognition as an example. Another challenge Casarez noted was providing appropriate health-care benefits for transgender individuals, with Fortune 500 companies actually leading the way on this issue. During their stay in Philadelphia, the journalists also met with representatives of the local chapter of Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays. Chapter president Myra Taksa said four PFLAG members — past regional director Melina Waldo, past chapter president Fran Kirschner, chapter treasurer John Otto and herself — met with the group for about an hour and a half, adding she wished they had more time together. “This was the best experience I’ve had with PFLAG,” the 10-year member said. “That they would come here, despite what

Miss Major’s account of her participation at the Stonewall Riots, the personal experience of one of the first known transmen to undergo lower-bottom surgery in the nation, and one activist’s recounting of the effort to seek social support with the dawn of the digital age — including when AOL banned a chat room he joined because its title included the word “transsexual.” While trans history will come into play in the film, it will focus largely on the future. Ippolito said he hopes it can motivate trans — and LGB — people to educate themselves about planning for their own later years. “We’ll be presenting information about legal issues and financial issues and offering recommendations on steps to help make the whole process a little easier,” the filmmaker said. “I hope that younger folks see this and start to really think about prepar-

ing, because it happens so quickly. You just get to that age all of a sudden and look back and think, Wait, what happened here?” Ippolito plans to bring that message to the masses through film festivals and other viewing engagements, and intends to transform the film into a multimedia interactive project. He has launched a website for the effort and is populating a blog with stories about transgender-aging topics and his own interviews with transgender subjects. Early next year he plans to launch an oral-history component, through which trans community members can submit their own stories to the site, with the ultimate goal of presenting all of the blog entries and video submissions in a multimedia installation in late 2013. For more information, visit www.transgenderaging.com. ■

MISS MAJOR (TOP) AND JAMISON GREEN

and, while there are various reasons for that, the biggest factors relate back to their transgender identity — whether they transitioned later in life and that delayed them preparing for growing older, or whether they put so much energy into being activists for the trans community that they didn’t focus enough on their own experience.” The five subjects — Jaci Adams, Miss Major, Jamison Green, Josephine Paulovic and Bill Coghill — are joined in their testimonials by interviews with experts in the health and legal fields, trans activists and representatives of aging groups like Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders. While the film is not meant as a historical reviewe, Ippolito said it sheds light on the vast changes the community has undergone. Among the stories he collected were may have been at great risk for themselves — heartwarming isn’t strong enough. My heart breaks to think of the challenges to their safety, just for being who they are. “They hung on every word, wrote down and recorded everything we said. They asked about parents, about fathers vs. mothers when their children came out to them. We talked about our own children’s coming out, and their experiences in school and in life.” Taksa said one particularly moving moment for her was when one of the journalists shared his own coming-out story, saying it was the first time that he’d ever been able to tell anyone about it. “That Sec. Clinton organized this [trip] shows how important this is — that’s remarkable,” she said. During their weeklong stay in the States, the journalists also visited Washington, D.C., and New York City to meet with government officials and members of LGBT media. ■

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EDITORIAL PGN

Creep of the Week

D’Anne Witkowski

Tony Perkins (again!)

Editorial

Fostering change abroad, and at home Last week, the Department of State brought 19 foreign journalists to the U.S. to discuss government policies related to the LGBT community, ranging from enforcing antidiscrimination laws and hate-crimes protections to what role the media has in shepherding change. The journalists came from Asia, Central and South America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Some were obviously and openly gay, some weren’t. They worked for a variety of media, both mainstream and LGBT. The journalists met with government officials, members of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, members of the LGBT press and LGBT community leaders. In Philadelphia, PGN participated in a roundtable discussion with nonprofit and city leaders, sharing how the city policies protect LGBTs, how activists have affected change over the years and what’s still left to be done. One journalist from Uganda — where homosexual activity is illegal — talked about the murder of gay activist David Kato, and asked about the legal differences between a crime and a hate crime. (A crime is still a crime; a hate crime increases the penalty.) A journalist from Guyana disclosed that police in his country often target transgender people, and asked about relations between police and LGBTs in the U.S. (Much improved over the years, but can still be problematic.)

A woman from Turkey shared a similar concern, noting that in her country too, police are often abusers. The visit was both heartening and heartbreaking. The Secretary of State has certainly demonstrated her commitment to and leadership on LGBT rights, advocating for increased protections even when full equality has not yet been reached in the U.S. Likewise, the journalists who participated demonstrated great courage and commitment to equal rights: If their governments, societies and families are homophobic, what danger have they put themselves in by taking this trip? In many ways, the LGBT-rights movements in their countries are where the movement was in the U.S. in the 1960s and ’70s. (Some are better, some far worse.) Protections are few and far between, if they exist at all. Governments, religious officials and families respond with violence and hate, trying to ban same-sex relations and mete out punishment for what they consider to be crimes. LGBTs are shunned, prosecuted and persecuted. And yet there are those who resist. Those who stand up and challenge the violence, who expose it and tell the stories of discrimination. Though they may have come here for insight, to learn from our collective experience, they too are to be commended for continuing the fight for justice and equality. ■

Hello everyone, are you enjoying your officially sanctioned Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month? Having a gay old time ruining life for straight people everywhere, especially the traditionally married ones? Because Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is very Pride-curious. He’s got some ideas about Pride that are bound to disappoint him once he realizes they are wildly inaccurate, but you’ve got to let a man have his fantasies, right? As Right Wing Watch reported, Perkins took to the antigay-radio airwaves earlier this month (and there certainly seems to be no shortage of antigay radio shows) to wax polemic about the scourge that is a bunch of gays in a parade. In no short order, he equated being gay with being an adulterer and an alcoholic. “The month of June is Gay Pride Month. Now, I have not yet seen where they have declared Adultery Pride Month, I have not seen where they have declared the Drunkenness Pride Month. Here’s the issue,” Perkins said: “It’s not a matter of whether or not someone can do what they want to do with their lives — God gave Adam and Eve a choice — but that’s not what we’re talking about here.” He’s right, of course. God did give Adam and Eve a choice about whether or not they wanted to march in the official Garden of Eden Pride Parade, but they were talked out of it by a homophobic snake. And we all know how that story ends. Being gay is, of course, very different from being an adulterer or an alcoholic. To Perkins sin is sin is sin, but many rational people would argue that being gay is not a sin or a choice. And while there isn’t an Adultery Pride Month, there is an Adultery Pride Parade that happens year-round. It’s called Congress. So if Pride isn’t about Adam and Eve, what is it about and why does it have Perkins so hot under the collar? “We’re talking about redefining the rest of culture and making others both embrace, celebrate and subsidize. We’re talking about changing the laws that will influence what our children are taught in schools,”

he lamented. “We’re talking about religious organizations losing their religious freedom.” Ah, yes. The Great Gay Takeover. Where homos invade all aspects of life and make it fabulous. I am tired of the whole “religious freedom” argument. Folks like Perkins love to cry that the sky is falling when, really, lawmakers often bend over backwards to give religious organizations exemptions so that they don’t have to make nice-nice with the gays. But to Perkins, “religious freedom” means an unfettered right to discriminate. Religious organizations have so much unchecked political power and we’ve seen repeatedly that power wielded against gay and lesbian families. Perhaps the best part of Perkins’ radio address was when he played Mr. Innocent and acted like his livelihood doesn’t depend on being publicly and virulently antigay. “We never asked for this debate, I entered into public office working on marriage policies to promote marriage, but it was the homosexual community that wanted to have this discussion on redefining marriage,” he said with a presumably straight face. Ah, yes, poor Perkins, forced into demonizing the evil gays every chance he gets. It’s brazen claims like this that remind us that while June may be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month, every month is antigay pride month, because these people have no shame. ■

Ah, yes. The Great Gay Takeover. Where homos invade all aspects of life and make it fabulous.

D’Anne Witkowski has been gay for pay since 2003. She’s a freelance writer and poet (believe it!). When she’s not taking on the creeps of the world, she reviews rock ’n’ roll shows in Detroit with her twin sister.

We want to know! If you are celebrating an anniversary, engagement, wedding, adoption or other life event, we would be happy to help you announce it to the community. Send your contact information and a brief description of the event to editor@epgn.com.

OP-ED PGN

After 40 years, Democrats come out strong on equality Bet you didn’t know that Pennsylvania equality legislation in the capitol. Not simwas in the vanguard of the push for LGBT ple, but beautifully written and conceived equality. That was 37 years ago, when it and everything but the kitchen sink in one was called lesbian and gay rights, and we equality resolution. The night before the were called gay activists. We’ve fallen vote, we had won the support of U.S. Rep. behind, but the process of putting us in our Bob Brady, head of the Philadelphia delegarightful place started last weektion, the largest delegation; U.S. end. Sen. Bob Casey and former Gov. Ed Rendell, all of whom told Before I get to that, let’s party chair Jim Burns that they do the history part. Everyone supported the resolution. But knows the first demonstrations in the nation for “Equality for none of us anticipated what hapHomosexuals” were held each pened next. July 4, outside Independence In order to pass, the resoluHall from 1965-69. But that tion had to run the hurdle of a was the pioneer movement and two-thirds vote to suspend the everything changed after the rules. That happened and discussion was open to the floor. Stonewall riots of 1969. This was where the opposition In 1975, Pennsylvania Gov. would show itself. Four speakers Milton Shapp signed the very quickly showed up at the microfirst executive order in the nation phones. The first up was Adams outlawing discrimination based County Democratic chair Roger on sexual orientation in state Mark Segal Lund, who told his personal government. That same June, story of having to leave the state he loves he signed the first gay Pride resolution by a to marry the man he loves. Next, a woman governor. Then — it still brings a smile to from Centre County who mentioned that my face — the governor took our suggestion and created the Governor’s Council on her lesbian sister would be proud. As so it Sexual Minorities. This was the first official went. After four speakers all in favor, any governmental body to look into the probopposition melted away and it passed overlems that gays and lesbians have and how whelmingly by voice vote. the state can address them. In 1975, this was The moment it passed, applause erupted, the first official government body of any then came a moment where someone had type to look into LGBT issues, not in the to say something to mark a historic change. nation, but in the world. Those successes Burns looked at me from the stage and I only lasted through the next two goverknew what he wanted, but as I made my nors and, as the 1980s arrived, they slipped way to the microphone, I didn’t know what away. Tom Ridge, who you might rememto say. What I said just came right out and ber as the nation’s first Homeland Security from the heart. “I’ve been a member of this head honcho under President George W. party and fighting for equality since Gov. Bush, did away with it all when he became Milton Shapp back in the 1970s. But today governor. is the first day that I don’t feel like a second-class citizen. Thank you.” But the climb to the top started up My short speech was received with again last weekend at the Democrat State applause and some even took to their feet, Committee convention (see story on page but let’s pause for a second. Even if we got 1). The LGBT caucus decided to attempt marriage equality in Pennsylvania, there to introduce a resolution. Sounds simple, are still people who can lose their jobs due but unfortunately all business that will be to the lack of a nondiscrimination law. It’s brought up at a convention has to be given time to pause and look at our priorities. As to the party 30 days prior. If not, you have long as people are losing their jobs, we’ll to suspend the rules in order to introduce it. remain second-class citizens. ■ And it was a simple resolution. It urged the state party to support President Obama’s Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s marriage-equality position, vote for marriage equality on the Democratic National most-award-winning commentator in LGBT Convention platform and urge all Democrat media. He can be reached at mark@epgn. state senators and representatives to support com.

Mark My Words

Please include a daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, style and space considerations.

Street Talk Will the Scouts change their policy to let local councils accept gays? “I’d guess within five years. It’s still such a verboten subject. With all the priest abuse going on, it’s a very touchy Andrew George issue. When furniture designer the Scouts Bella Vista finally change their policy, I think it will be a gradual process. First, they’ll phase in gay adults. Then they’ll let gay youth join the organization.”

“I’ll give them seven years to do that. This country is behind the times. From what I can see, America Vanessa King is closeoccupational minded on therapist the issue of Christchurch, New Zealand sexuality. It’s slowly becoming OK to be gay here. But it’s a slow process: Religion is very influential in this country.”

“Yes. I think that’s within the next year. I’ve seen all the petitions [presented to the Scouts] online. There’s been a lot of media Brett Molash attention. engineer Like the Washington Square West story about the lesbian den mother kicked out. I think all this pressure will push the Scouts into doing the right thing.”

“Yes. It would be similar to gay marriage. Gay marriage isn’t recognized on the federal level but individual Daria Snow states can server allow gay Washington Square marriage. West I think the Scouts will take the same approach. I’m 80-percent sure something like that will be possible within the next two years.”

Letters and Feedback In response to “What LGBT icon should have a street renamed in his or her honor?” Street Talk, June 8-14: Why not name a street after a Philadelphian who did so much for our community rather than someone who was never involved in Philadelphia? I propose Barbara Gittings. An activist until her death. — Kenneth D. George

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.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Barbara didn’t particularly care for trans rights. — Cei Bell

In response to “Name-change fees can be minimized,” June 8-14: The problem isn’t necessarily that lowincome people can’t afford it (I’m on SSI and managed to get mine changed); it’s that the working poor and those who have many financial obligations but incomes are too high for most waivers can’t get it changed. I know a transgender woman who has a good-paying job, but she has child support payments which are eating up her income, but Mazzoni Legal cannot assist with her. These are the people that we should be helping by making the process less complicated and less expensive. — JordanGwendolynDavis

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

YOU’VE WORKED TO CONTROL YOUR HIV. NOW, TIME TO WORK ON YOUR

HIV-RELATED EXCESS BELLY FAT. In two separate clinical trials of HIV-infected people with lipodystrophy, each lasting 6 months, EGRIFTA® (tesamorelin for injection) reduced HIV-related excess belly fat by an average of 18% in the first trial, and 14% in the second trial. �� EGRIFTA®��

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

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Consumer Brief Summary for EGRIFTA® (tesamorelin for injection) EGRIFTA® (eh-GRIF-tuh) (tesamorelin for injection) for subcutaneous use Read the Patient Information that comes with EGRIFTA® before you start to take it and each time you get a refill. There may be new information. This leaflet does not take the place of talking to your healthcare provider about your medical condition or your treatment. What is EGRIFTA®? � EGRIFTA® is an injectable prescription medicine to reduce the excess in abdominal fat in HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy. EGRIFTA® contains a growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) ��The impact and safety of EGRIFTA® on cardiovascular health has not been studied ��EGRIFTA® is not indicated for weight-loss management ��It is not known whether taking EGRIFTA® helps improve compliance with antiretroviral medications � It is not known if EGRIFTA® is safe and effective in children. EGRIFTA® is not recommended to be used in children

How should I use EGRIFTA®? � Read the detailed “Instructions for Use” that comes with EGRIFTA® before you start using EGRIFTA®. Your healthcare provider will show you how to inject EGRIFTA® � Use EGRIFTA® exactly as prescribed by your healthcare provider � Inject EGRIFTA® under the skin (subcutaneously) of your stomach area (abdomen) � Change (rotate) the injection site on your stomach area (abdomen) with each dose. Do not inject EGRIFTA® into scar tissue, bruises, or your navel � Do not share needles or syringes with other people. Sharing of needles can result in the transmission of infectious diseases, such as HIV

will measure your blood sugar periodically � Injection-site reactions. Change (rotate) your injection site to help lower your risk for

injection-site reactions. Call your healthcare provider for medical advice if you have the following symptoms around the area of the injection site: – bleeding – redness – rash – itching – swelling – pain – irritation The most common side effects of EGRIFTA® include: – nausea – joint pain – vomiting – pain in legs and arms – rash – swelling in your legs – itching – muscle soreness – tingling, numbness, and pricking Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of EGRIFTA®. For more information, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist. Call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects. To report side effects, contact EMD Serono toll-free at 1-800-283-8088, ext. 5563. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088. Keep EGRIFTA® and all medicines out of the reach of children. General information about the safe and effective use of EGRIFTA®: Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in a Patient Information leaflet. Do not use EGRIFTA® for a condition for which it was not prescribed. Do not give EGRIFTA® to other people, even if they have the same symptoms you have. It may harm them. Do not share your EGRIFTA® syringe with another person, even if the needle is changed. Do not share your EGRIFTA® needles with another person. This Patient Information leaflet summarizes the most important information about EGRIFTA®. If you would like more information, talk with your healthcare provider. You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for information about EGRIFTA® that is written for healthcare professionals. For more information about EGRIFTA®, go to www.EGRIFTA.com or contact the AXIS Center toll-free at 1-877-714-2947. What are the ingredients in EGRIFTA®? Active ingredient: tesamorelin Inactive ingredients: mannitol and Sterile Water for Injection

What are the possible side effects of EGRIFTA®? EGRIFTA® may cause serious side effects including: � Serious allergic reaction. Some people taking EGRIFTA® may have an allergic reaction. EGRIFTA® is a registered trademark of Theratechnologies Inc. Distributed by EMD Serono, Inc., Rockland, MA 02370

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What should I tell my healthcare provider before using EGRIFTA®? Before using EGRIFTA®, tell your healthcare provider if you: � have or have had cancer � have diabetes � are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if EGRIFTA® passes into your breast milk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that HIV-infected mothers not breastfeed to avoid the risk of passing HIV infection to your baby. Talk with your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby if you are taking EGRIFTA® � have kidney or liver problems � have any other medical condition Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. EGRIFTA® may affect the way other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how EGRIFTA® works. Know the medicines you take. Keep a list with you to show your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.

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Who should not use EGRIFTA®? Do not use EGRIFTA® if you: ��have pituitary gland tumor, pituitary gland surgery, or other problems related to your pituitary gland ��have active cancer (either newly diagnosed or recurrent) or are receiving treatment for cancer ��are allergic to tesamorelin or any of the ingredients in EGRIFTA®. See the end of this leaflet for a complete list of ingredients in EGRIFTA® ��are pregnant or become pregnant. If you become pregnant, stop using EGRIFTA® and talk with your healthcare provider . See “What should I tell my healthcare provider before using EGRIFTA®?”

Stop using EGRIFTA® and get emergency help right away if you have any of the following symptoms: – a rash over your body – hives – swelling of your face or throat – shortness of breath or trouble breathing – fast heartbeat – feeling of faintness or fainting � Swelling (fluid retention). EGRIFTA® can cause swelling in some parts of your body. Call your healthcare provider if you have an increase in joint pain, or pain or numbness in your hands or wrist (carpal tunnel syndrome)

AGING PGN

Still here and still proud On a recent drive through beautiful mountains on my way to a conference on aging issues in State College, I began to think about the 40 intervening years since I graduated from Penn State. As a college student, I had demonstrated for civil rights, against the war in Vietnam, the draft, the Kent State massacre and an unresponsive government. It was the birth of my political activism. During those years, I had been unaware of the stirrings of the modern LGBT-rights movement: the work of Harry Hay and the Mattachine Society, Barbara Gittings leading picketers in front of Independence Hall, the Stonewall uprising and so many other milestones. It was not until the early 1980s that I began to understand what it meant to be part of the LGBT community. Heshie That was because the AIDS war had begun and my generation had emerged from the anti-war and anti-establishment politics of the ’60s and ’70s into the personal havoc of the life and death struggle against HIV/AIDS. Without the courage of the pioneers in the LGBT-rights movement and without the experience we gained in the anti-war movement, we might have been annihilated by AIDS. The LGBT community had built a base of experience in organizing, protest, advocacy and providing services. When the AIDS pandemic rose from nowhere, we had the ability to mount a community effort to fight the HIV/AIDS battle and, for many of us, to survive. I am one of those survivors. In the early days of AIDS, I, like millions of others, did not have a clue about HIV or prevention. However, I chose to learn and to be involved — for some selfish reasons. Before testing was available, again like so many others, I believed that I had already been infected. I knew that I was going to need help and services and support. So, out of a sense of self-preservation, I became a volunteer and an activist in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Once involved in action, I realized that we, as a community, stood alone. Just as in the 1960s, unresponsive governments offered no support, people were frightened and we had to rely on ourselves. Dozens, and then hundreds, and then thousands of LGBT people and allies volunteered, donated and worked tirelessly to save lives. We banded together to advocate for services, for research, for care and for support. We fought and, sadly, we lost many whom we loved. And many of us, as individuals and as a community, came out alive

and stronger on the other side. We should bear great pride in our growth as a community and, literally, our survival. Pride that we joined together to take care of our own. Pride that we built social, political and care structures that helped many to survive. Now we have a challenge that many of us never expected to face: aging. Now, once again, personal self-interest and community self-interest play a part. We are all aging and we must support each other so that we can all age safely, healthfully and successfully. The philosophy of taking care of our own is deeply rooted in our history. We have learned that we must actively engage our communities, allies, government and service providers in order to achieve Zinman our goal of successful aging. So what do we, as a community, need in order to age successfully? I believe that we must: — claim our place at the table to advocate for our unique needs and issues as we age; — educate ourselves so that we can access competent, sensitive and welcoming care and services that are critical to our physical and emotional health, financial stability, safe and affordable housing and social structures; — create awareness in government and among care providers that they must competently and sensitively address our issues; engage in social activity and activism to create supportive networks; and — train the people who are going to be caring for us so that they understand our culture, our community and our family structures and treat us with the respect that all people deserve.

Gettin’ On

We must now use our knowledge and experience to help each other age well. Our pride in the fact that we have survived can help us as we direct our efforts to helping each other once again. This is no time for us to become passive observers, but rather we must be active and engaged participants in what, for many of us, is the unexpected gift of a long life. ■ Heshie Zinman is co-chair of the LGBT Elder Initiative. The LGBTEI, headquartered in Philadelphia, is dedicated to supporting and sustaining the lives of LGBT older adults. To volunteer, comment on this column or suggest topics for future columns or for more information, visit www. lgbtei.org and watch for “Gettin’ On” each month in PGN.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

~ ANNOUNCEMENT ~

OUR RENOVATIONS

ARE COMPLETE!

~ Come Help Us Celebrate ~ Ribbon Cutting & Unveiling of Market History Exhibit With Mayor Michael A. Nutter Monday, June 18th ~ 10:00am ~ Rick Nichols Room Dedication Week: Daily special events, June 18–23 For a full schedule of events, visit www.readingterminalmarket.org

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

APPEAL from page 1

Web. Clementi later committed suicide. Altman’s notice indicated that he would argue the bias-intimidation charges were unconstitutional as applied to Ravi’s case, although the filing did not explain how that would be demonstrated. Altman additionally plans to contend that Berman DHARUN RAVI

PGN NEWS

made mistakes in charging the jury and that several of the judge’s decisions, including his denial of requested discovery, hindered Ravi’s ability to receive a fair trial. Altman also will argue that the verdict was “against the weight of the evidence.” The appeal could take several years. Ravi has been in prison since May 31 and, with a good-behavior credit, could be released in the next few days. Berman also ordered him to pay more than $11,000 in fines and complete 300 hours of community service. Prosecutors said in their appeal that Ravi should have received at least five years in prison. ■

DEMS from page 1

state Democratic Party, to join the 11 other state party chairs who have called for the endorsement of marriage equality. In a statement to PGN this week, Burns said he is “proud that our party has endorsed same-sex marriage so that all Pennsylvanians who are in loving, committed relationships and want to marry are able to do so.” Lindsay Fritchman, press secretary for the state party, said that there “will definitely be discussions as we head to the convention” about Burns’ advocating for marriage equality to be included in the national platform. Lund, who married his partner in Washington, D.C., said President Obama’s recent decision to support marriage equality motivated him to begin working on the resolution. “When President Obama made that statement on gay marriage, it brought it to a head for me,” he said. “It seemed as though it was time for our state party to stand with the president and to stand for gays and lesbians in Pennsylvania.” Lund worked with the LGBT, progressive and South-Central caucuses to craft the resolution and spent last weekend presenting it to caucus chairs, the executive committee, county chairs, special-interest caucuses, standing committees and the eight regional caucuses. Backers of the resolution wanted to ensure that the measure had the two-thirds majority support from committeemembers that was needed to suspend the rules — since the resolution was not presented to the State Committee prior to the summer meeting — and allow it to move toward a vote. Although there was some vocal opposition to the rules-suspension from the Northwest Caucus, Lund said the dissenters were “soundly defeated.” The eventual resolution passed in a voice vote with, by Lund’s estimation, at least 90percent support. “The folks who were against it were clearly, clearly in the minority,” he said, noting that opposition came from most of ACT UP from page 1

Security detained two ACT UP activists in the parking garage for over two hours, and they were interviewed by a number of lawenforcement officials. They will not face any charges, said ACT UP member Kaytee Riek. The garage was located a few blocks from the Franklin Institute, by the Chestnut Street Bridge. The action was meant to call attention to the need for funding for Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS and for a “Robin Hood Tax” — a less-than .5-percent tax on stocks, bonds and dividends trades that advocates say could generate $350 billion annually to be used for the creation of green jobs and health causes, such as HIV/AIDS programs. “There’ve been amazing scientific breakthroughs on AIDS in the four years these students have been at SLA,” said ACT UP member Jose DeMarco. “We learned that

the Northwest and some of the Southwest caucuses. “The rest of the caucuses were just about unanimous. It was pretty overwhelming.” Equality Pennsylvania executive director Ted Martin said the resolution’s passage is a symbolic affirmation of recent polls that have found more than half of Pennsylvania residents favor marriage equality. It is also important to fueling conversation among LGBTs and political leaders about the other LGBT issues the state should be moving on, he said. “What it’s helped me do is give me the opening to talk about how badly Pennsylvania protects its LGBT citizens overall,” he said. “We have no discrimination or hate-crimes protections, so we need to have a conversation with folks in leadership, and this helps to open the door wide to talk about both marriage and these other issues.” Lund said he’s eager for the resolution to provide party leaders with more support to sign on to marriage equality. “I think this can show people who are not sure how much support there is for this issue that more people have their back than they may have thought,” he said. “Hopefully folks who have been timid about being supportive in the past, and who have thought that maybe the time for marriage equality hasn’t come yet, might move forward a bit.” The resolution’s adoption also signals a shift in the state’s Democratic Party, Lund noted. He said that a few years ago, the State Committee saw a 40-percent turnover, which helped to bring in a new batch of progressive Democratic leaders. “For a long time the Pennsylvania Democratic Party has been viewed as conservative, and we now have a very different brand of people running the State Committee,” Lund said. “The committee has become way more open and we’re now more a body that listens to the grassroots. This was an excellent indication of that, and I think this vote bodes well for where the state party is moving.” ■ treatment can drastically cut the spread of AIDS. We learned that providing housing is necessary to treat and prevent AIDS, and we’re closer than ever to a vaccine and a cure. The science is there; what we need is leadership, the leadership to tax Wall Street for the money to end AIDS.” The banner also included a website — wecanendaids.org — that ACT UP groups around the nation and others are using to mobilize activists for a large-scale demonstration July 24 in Washington, D.C., at the International AIDS Conference. Riek added that ACT UP will keep up the pressure on Obama. “The activists are going to continue to raise the fact that the president has broken his promises on funding AIDS programs here and around the world,” she said. “As we head closer to the International AIDS Conference in July in D.C., the president is going to continue to hear about this.” ■

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

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News Briefing Mediation session scheduled in Scouts case

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Bernard A. Moore to halt implementation of the ordinance while he challenges its validity in a higher court. But on June 5, Moore ruled that the ordinance will remain in effect while Schneller pursues the litigation. Michael J. Savona, borough solicitor for Conshohocken, was pleased with Moore’s ruling. “The judge exercised proper discretion in telling Mr. Schneller the court system is not going to hold up Conshohocken’s implementation of its human-relations ordinance,” Savona told PGN. Schneller had no comment for this story. The ordinance extends civilrights protections to LGBTs in the areas of housing, employment, public education and public accommodations. Violators face a fine of $500 — and up to 90 days in jail — for each offense. The ordinance went into effect last July. Two months later, Schneller filed a legal challenge of the ordinance’s validity — claiming it fosters the spread of diseases, harms children and infringes on protected religious freedoms. Moore dismissed Schneller’s challenge in March on the basis that it lacked legal standing. But the following month, Schneller appealed the dismissal in state Superior Court. In a related matter, Schneller filed a motion in state Superior Court last month requesting that his appeal be transferred from state Superior Court to state Commonwealth Court. In his motion, Schneller acknowledged that disputes i nvo l v i n g m u n i c i p a l o r d i nances are adjudicated in state Commonwealth Court. Savona also filed a motion in state Superior Court requesting that Schneller’s appeal be transferred to Commonwealth Court. On June 11, the state Superior Court approved the requests.

The city’s federal appeal to evict a local Boy Scouts council from a city-owned building is slated for a mediation session next month. Since 2008, the city has been trying to evict the BSA Cradle of Liberty Council from 231-251 N. 22nd St. because the council won’t accept gays, nor will it pay fair-market rent. In 2010, a federal jury ruled that the city’s eviction process violated the club’s first-amendment right to exclude gays. In March, U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter upheld the jury verdict, and also ordered the city to pay the Scouts $877,000 in legal fees. The following month, the city appealed Buckwalter’s rulings in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal was referred to the court’s mediation program, with a session scheduled for July 5. If mediation cannot resolve the dispute, the court will issue a briefing schedule, and the litigation will resume. Mediation sessions are closed to the public, according to the court’s website. Both sides declined to comment for this story. In 2010, the Nutter administration tried to settle the litigation by agreeing to sell the property to the Scouts for $500,000. But Philadelphia City Council declined to approve the proposed deal.

Judge rules in favor of LGBT ordinance A Montgomery County judge has cleared the way for implementation of Conshohocken’s LGBT civil-rights ordinance. James D. Schneller, co-founder of Philadelphia Metro Task Force, asked Common Pleas Judge

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Business leaders gather for lunch, award Philadelphia LGBT chamber of commerce Independence Business Alliance will host its annual Business Leaders Luncheon from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. June 19 at Loews Philadelphia Hotel, 1200 Market St. The event, themed “Success Through Synergy,” will bring together LGBT professionals from throughout the region. The keynote speaker is Eugene Cornelius Jr., the deputy associate administrator of the Office of Field Operations of the U.S. Small Business Administration. IBA will present its new organizational video and unveil the winner of the second annual PNC Bank LGBT Business Award. Tickets are $65 for IBA members and $75 for non-members. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http:// ibaphiladelphia.org/AnnualBusi nessLuncheon2012.

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Riversharks welcome LGBTs Minor League Baseball team the Camden Riversharks will host their annual Pride Night on June 21. The Riversharks will face off against the Long Island Ducks at 7:05 p.m. at Campbell’s Field, 401 N. Delaware Ave. in Camden, N.J. Tickets range from $5-$25, and a portion of ticket sales will go to support LGBT causes. For more information, visit www.riversharks.com. To purchase tickets, use the promo code “Pride.” Gates open at 6 p.m. ■ — Jen Colletta

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LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. The networking social will feature opportunities for a diverse group of women to mix and mingle. The event will serve as the kickoff to Wonder Women’s new Mentoring Program. Light fare and refreshments will be available, and music will be provided by DJ Niilo. There is a suggested donation of $10-$20 for admission. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/event s/420033814703187/.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

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tion is submitted, it is processed in the same manner and assigned to the appropriate committee,” Smith said. “We teach our members to treat those with different opinions with courtesy and respect at all times. To disagree does not mean to disrespect.” When the potential policy change was announced, some speculated that it was because of a recent Change.org petition drive that was created after the removal of Ohio Scouts den mother Jennifer Tyrrell, who was ousted because she is a lesbian. Zach Wahls, the author of “My Two Moms” who gained fame last year with an impassioned speech before the Iowa legislature about marriage equality, delivered the petition, containing more than 275,000 signatures, to Scouts officials at the end of May. Wahls is an Eagle Scout whose one mother served as a leader in his troop during his youth. “As an Eagle Scout I have learned the importance of standing up for what’s right and, when I see something that is wrong, to make an effort to correct that injustice,” he said. “As someone who has lesbian parents, this issue hit home on a number of different levels. And I have met Jennifer and her family, so there was added significance in that respect as well.” The BSA decided to publicly accept the resolution, which Wahls said was “unprecedented,” as this issue had previously been “swept under the rug.” A statement from BSA said that the agency accepted the petition “out of courtesy and respect for differing viewpoints.” BSA has clarified that the resolution was submitted prior to the petition delivery and that the two were unrelated. Wahls, however, noted that the petition helped draw attention to the resolution. The petition delivery also fueled a number of phone calls to Wahls from fellow Eagle Scouts who support a change in the policy, which led Wahls last week to found Scouts for Equality, an organization that is mobilizing current and former Scouts to speak out against the ban on gay members. Wahls said that BSA has faced external pressure since the policy was instated, but this marks

the first time that Scouts themselves are organizing to call for a change. “There has never been a group of Scouts who have really stood up and said, ‘We’re Eagle Scouts and we’re proud of that fact, but this is an organization that has done so much good in our lives that we’re having difficulty reconciling that fact with the injustices that we see,’” he said. “We need to make sure we’re having an honest, open dialogue about ending this policy, and I think that having internal support like this can take this through the finish line.” More internal pressure came this week from James Turley, a member of the BSA National Board and global chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young. Tyrrell started another petition this week calling on Turley and the CEO of AT&T, who also sits on the board, to endorse the repeal of the policy. Both Ernst & Young and AT&T have 100-percent ratings from Human Rights Campaign. In a statement Tuesday, Turley said the company is “proud to have such a strong record” in LGBT inclusiveness. While he said he supports the “meaningful work of the Boy Scouts in preparing young people for adventure, leadership, learning and service,” he disagrees with the ban on gay members. “The membership policy is not one I would personally endorse,” Turley said. “As I have done in leading Ernst & Young to being a most inclusive organization, I intend to continue to work from within the BSA Board to actively encourage dialogue and sustainable progress.” AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was more equivocal in a statement released to CNBC Wednesday. “Diversity and inclusion are part of AT&T’s culture and operations, and we’re proud to be recognized as a leader in this area,” he said. “We don’t agree with every policy of every organization we support, nor would we expect them to agree with us on everything. Our belief is that change at any organization must come from within to be successful and sustainable.” For more information on Wahls’ organization, visit www.scoutsforequality.org. ■

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Special post-Pride pullout section Temps, crowds soar for Pride By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com

PARTY IN THE STREETS: LGBTs celebrated Pride in the Gayborhood last Friday night with the first-ever block party to kick off Pride weekend. The event shut down 12th Street from Tabu to ICandy and featured outdoor games, music and food and drink stands. Philly Pride organizers said the event will return next year. Photos: Scott A. Drake

HEART OF HOMECOMING: William Way LGBT Community Center dedicated its new Philadelphians MC Restroom at its June 9 Homecoming celebration, recognizing the $2,000plus the leather group raised for the restroom’s remodeling. Center executive director Chris Bartlett (third from right) unveiled the new room with Philadelphians MC members Phil Cochetti (from left), John Loesch, Tony McDougal, Ryan Goldner and Jim and Mike Kiley-Zufelt. Homecoming brought in more than 200 people and over $20,000.

diversity. Winning the grand prize Fruit Bowl award was the Tabu Sports Float, which featured performers from Tabu’s Sinful Sundays, Liberty City Drag Kings & Burlesque and Dumpsta Players. The group also won for Best Bar. Also a big winner of the day was headliner Wendy Williams. The crowd chanted her name and she was swamped with fans as she went to and from the stage. “People just loved Wendy Williams,” Price said. “She was a huge hit.” Sunday’s events were previewed Friday night in the Gayborhood with the first-ever

Sunday’s blistering heat did little to quell the spirits of the record-breaking crowd at Philadelphia Pride. Although temps topped out at 92 degrees, more than 10,000 people braved the sun and the sweat to show their pride at the 24th annual festival at Penn’s Landing, the largest crowd the event has ever seen. The heat did get to be too much for a handful of guests: One had to be transported to the hospital and a number of people were treated onsite by medics. Many Pridegoers cooled off in the Penn’s Landing fountains and crowded under the trees, and Franny Price, executive director of Philly Pride Presents, said that overall the temps didn’t dampen the day. “I don’t think the heat had much of an impact,” she said. “Rain can definitely hurt the event but you expect the heat in June.” There were no arrests reported, and the usual antigay protestors were no-shows. COOLING OFF IN A FOUNTAIN AT PENN’S LANDING About 140 vendors tabled at the event, and 57 contingents marched in Pride kickoff block party. Price said the party, held on 12th Street, the parade. The parade did get held up for a bit at Seventh and Market streets, which will return next year. “It was a total success,” she said. “We Price said she’s looking into, but otherwise heard from many people that it was a wonwent off without a hitch. “Other than the delay, everything was derful way to kick off Pride weekend. It was perfect,” she said. “It was the best Pride I contained, right in the Gayborhood so it was really controlled and everybody in the can remember.” The parade included participation from area got great business from it. Everybody nonprofits, corporations and national seemed really happy with how it turned groups, and the winner’s list showed the out.” ■

Weigh It Forward

Debbie Spadafora, administrative manager, Woody’s and Voyeur Trainer/gym: Noe Espinoza, 12th Street Gym Starting weight: 339 Ending weight: 258 Total pounds lost: 81

Franny Price, executive director, Philly Pride Presents Tr a i n e r / g y m : J o - E l l e n Marks, Optimal Sport Health Clubs Starting weight: 264 Ending weight: 201 Total pounds lost: 63 Micah Mahjoubian, CEO, Soapbox Solutions Trainer/gym: Gavin McKay, Fusion Starting weight: 267 Ending weight: 212 Total pounds lost: 55

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A f t e r f iv e g r u e l i n g months, the four participants of the fundraiser Weigh It Forward weighed in on stage June 10 at Pride — no longer tipping the scales. Together, the group lost a total of 237 pounds and raised $22,799.50 in pledges. The funds will be distributed evenly among Philly Pride Presents, The Attic Youth Center and William Way LGBT Community Center.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

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Wedding Chip Junod and John Bobon By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com

ily and God,” he said. The couple said that both of their families have been supportive and welcoming More than two years after a chance of the relationship, which was particularly meeting in the Gayborhood, Chip Junod meaningful for Junod, as he was previand John Bobon celebrated their love ously married to a woman and has three children and four grandchildren — all of before family and friends. The pair was joined in a wedding cer- whom participated in the wedding. The service, officiated by the Rev. Nate emony June 9 at First Unitarian Church of Walker, included a flower-communion cerPhiladelphia. Junod, 57, is a Philadelphia native who emony in which all guests placed a rose in works as an assistant managing director a bowl and Junod and Bobon added their for the city, while Bobon, 35, hails from flowers at the end, symbolizing the imporCochranville and moved to Philadelphia tance of the support and commitment of more than 15 years ago. He currently their loved ones to their relationship. After the event, the 130 guests gathserves as the technology coordinator at the ered for a reception at The College of Hub Meeting & Event Centers. They met about two-and-a-half years Physicians of Philadelphia, which was decked out in red and white in honor of ago at Knock. “For me it really was like love at first their love of the Philadelphia Phillies. The sight,” Bobon said. “I walked into the bar table cards were based on Phillies’ jersey and saw him and just immediately went numbers and, as part of their gift, each member of the wedding party received a over and started talking to him.” Junod agreed that the attraction was ticket to the upcoming Gay Community Night at the Phillies. One of the most memorable moments from the reception, Junod said, was when a relative told him that the event had heightened his understanding of same-sex relationships. “He said it was an eyeopener for him,” Junod said. “He said we seem so natural together and that things seem just the way they should be. That was really great to hear.” Bobon said he hopes other same-sex couples recognize the value of a public pronouncement of their relationship. “We want to encourage other gay couples to JUNOD (LEFT) AND BOBON Photo: Scott A. Drake celebrate their love with a ceremony,” he said. “Even though it may not be 100-percent legal yet immediate. “For some reason we just hit it off right in Pennsylvania, we shouldn’t be afraid to celebrate what we have with our friends away,” he said. They registered as life partners June 9, and family. We need to show the rest of 2011, ensuring that the license was granted the world that we’re not any different from on that date, as they had already set the anyone else.” Junod noted that, if and when date for the wedding and wanted to keep Pennsylvania legalizes same-sex marthe same anniversary for both occasions. Although Pennsylvania doesn’t recog- riage, he and Bobon will take the plunge nize marriage equality, Bobon said it was legally — although that occasion may not important to the couple to affirm their include as lengthy of a guest list. The pair will celebrate their wedding commitment before their loved ones. “More than anything we wanted to cele- with a Key West vacation planned for brate our love in front of our friends, fam- September. ■

PRIDE AFLOAT: Grand prize Fruit Bowl award winner Tabu Sports (from top), Best Vehicle winner Wells Fargo and the Best Float award went to the LGBT Senior Housing Project. The other parade winners included Peco/Exelon for Best Business, William Way LGBT Community Center for Best Nonprofit, Venture Inn for Best Female Impersonator, Mrs. Pennsylvania and Mrs. New Jersey America for Best Duet, The Attic Youth Center for Best Performance, Metropolitan Community Church of Philadelphia for Best Theme, hotpot! for Best Public Statement, Philadelphia Freedom Band for Best Marching with Music, Philadelphia Family Pride for Best Marching Without Music, Cheer New York for Best NonGayborhood Nonprofit, Diamonz for Best Non-Gayborhood Bar, Reconciling Methodists for Best Non-Gayborhood Float and Flaggots for Spectator Favorite. Photos: Scott A. Drake

24 GayGay News www.epgn.com JuneJune 15-21, 20122012 Page 24Philadelphia Philadelphia News www.epgn.com 15-21,

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Philadelphia www.epgn.com 15-21, 25 Philadelphia Gay Gay NewsNews www.epgn.com JuneJune 15-21, 20122012 Page 25

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Get Out and Play

Scott A. Drake

Proud to represent Philadelphia Just when you start to think that softball is the only game in town, the competitions heat up and our out athletes show other cities, states and countries what’s up. The Fins Aquatic Club hit the skies and the waters to compete in two competitions recently. At the Iceland 2012 International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics Championships held at the Laugardalur Sports Centre in Reykjavik, Iceland, the Fins had 20 participants. First-place kudos go to: — Louis Danna: Men (70-74), 50-meter backstroke, 2:09.57 — Merrill Hilf: Women (50-54), 400meter freestyle, 7:26.07; 800-meter freestyle, 15:16.97; 1,500-meter freestyle, 29:11.32 — Robert Kannegie: Men (55-59), 200meter freestyle, 2:17.77; 400-meter freestyle, 4:47.37; 800-meter freestyle, 10:05.88 — Keith Robinson: Men (55-59), 1,500meter freestyle, 22:17:23 — Caroline Stein: Women (40-44), 50meter backstroke, 41.64; 200-meter backstroke, 3:07.61; 100-meter butterfly 1:25.94; 200-meter butterfly, 3:13.58 Second-place medals went to George Horan and Carolyn Plack. Coming home with a third place were Jon Roman, Patrick Rooney and Robert Ryan. Four other Fins went to the Tournoi International de Paris, May 26-27 in Paris, France, and despite the small number, they were powerful representatives of Philadelphia and the U.S. in the mostly European event. The team’s senior-most swimmer present, Louis Danna, who is in his 70s and still competing, won a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke. Gold also went to Pat Rooney in the 200-meter breaststroke, John Bishop earned silver medals in the 50-meter backstroke and 100-meter freestyle and Jan Elsasser brought home a bronze in the 50-meter backstroke.

More Pride abroad Four members of the Philadelphia Gryphons Rugby Football Club — Phil Cochetti, Chris Hatfield, Jamey Mendez and Bob O’Brien — teamed up with members of the Atlanta Bucks as part of the newly created “Gryphucks” to have enough players for a team this year to compete in the Bingham Cup, June 1-3 in Manchester, England. Although they struggled on opening day during the seeding process and again on day two, the Gryphucks pulled out all the stops on the third day in the final games, shutting out the Nashville Grizzlies (220) and fought the Chicago Dragons (8-0) to bring home the Shield, the fourth division trophy. The Gryphons won the first Bingham Cup in 2004 in London and also competed in 2006 in New York City and in 2008 in Dublin. The Bingham Cup is the bi-annual world championship of gay and inclusive rugby teams named in honor of San Francisco Fog gay rugby player Mark Bingham, who died on United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. The club hasn’t announced its fall season tryout dates and schedule yet, but you can find the Gryphons on Facebook, call Phil Cochetti at 215681-3226 or get basic information at www.philadelphiagryphons.org/. Pride Flags The Philadelphia Revolution is the tournament team comprised of players from the Greater Philadelphia Flag Football League. In February,

MAT METTLE MEDALS: Spartans Wrestling Coach Mike LoFurno (from left) takes a knee with fellow grapplers and medal winners Gus Scheerbaum, Neil Brantly and Carl Weisbecker. Metro NYC member Weisbecker took third place in the annual tournament hosted by the Spartans over Philly Pride weekend. Brantly took second and Scheerbaum placed fourth. Photo: Scott A. Drake

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they competed in the Sunshine Bowl in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and on Columbus Day weekend they will participate in the National Gay Flag Football League’s Gay Bowl. For the first time, the Revs are fielding two teams in the Chicago Pride Bowl V, which coincides with the Chicago Pride events June 22-24. One of the first games on the first day of competition this year, Philly Revolution Blue is the designated home team against Jacksonville Surge at 8 a.m. Next up, the Philly Revolution Silver start their bid hosting the San Diego Bolts at 9:30 a.m. During the tournament, you can get updates at www.usgsn.com, the tournament home site, where results will be updated via Twitter, and at the GPFFL website, phillyflagfootball.com.

Short stops • More tournaments are on deck: The Philadelphia Liberty Belle Invitational bowling tournament takes place June 29July 1, and the Philadelphia Liberty Tennis Association is having its first annual Philadelphia Open Tennis Tournament July 20-22. Details next time! • The Philadelphia Frontrunners are trotting up to Manhattan for the sold-out New York Front Runners Charity 5 Mile Race on June 23. Philadelphia will also represent at the New York City Pride Parade June 24 when Team Philadelphia marches for the first time in the Big Apple. • The movement away from silence, discrimination and homophobia in sports toward a more open LGBT acceptance in athletics is getting a turbo boost at the first

Nike LGBT Sports Summit June 14-16 in Portland, Ore. Philadelphian and summit participant Anna Aagenes will have firsthand information for us next time. • Team Philadelphia meets for board and officers elections at 6:30 p.m. June 28, at the William Way Center, 1315 Spruce St. STANDINGS It’s halftime in the City of Brotherly Love Softball League season. Here are the standings, with this weekend off to regroup. Men’s Div B Knock Outlaws (6-1) Men’s Div C Tavern on Camac Wolves (8-1) Tabu Triple Play (6-3) Philadelphia ICandy (5-4) Manniax (3-6) Westbury Fury (3-6) Bike Stop (0-10) Recreational Div Homewreckers (7-0) Wolves Rec (6-1) Honey Badgers (5-2) TOC (4-3) Stogie Joe’s Sluggers (3-4) Westbury Rec (3-4) Shots (2-4) Uncles (2-5) Storm (1-5) 4Play (1-6) Women’s Div A Red Stripes (7-1) Sunday’s Hangover (7-1) Dirty Martinis (6-4) Saving Second Base (1-8) Women’s Div B Dynasty (7-2) Girls Like Us (6-3) Ninjas (6-3) Uglies (5-4) Women’s Div C TOC Tailgaters (7-2) Foul Play (6-3) Flying Monkeys (4-5) Simon’s 369ers (2-6) Women’s Div D Institute (3-5) Sisters (2-6) Bucket Buds (2-8) Triple Play (W) (0-10) All of these organizations welcome visitors, fans and cheerleaders. Get out of the house, out of your routine and go to a game. Better yet, get out and play! ■ To submit information for Get Out and Play, email scott@epgn.com.

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You may be able to save on the co-pay for your COMPLERA prescription with a Gilead HIV Co-pay Assistance Card. Call 1-877-505-6986 for more information or visit www.COMPLERA.com.*

A complete HIV treatment in only 1 pill a day. Ask your healthcare provider if it’s the one for you.

Before taking COMPLERA, tell your healthcare provider if you: ��have liver problems, including hepatitis B or C virus infection ��have kidney problems ��have ever had a mental health problem ��have bone problems ��are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if COMPLERA can harm your unborn child ��are breastfeeding; women with HIV should not breast-feed because they can pass HIV through their milk to the baby Contact your healthcare provider right away if you experience any of the following serious or common side effects: Serious side effects associated with COMPLERA: ��New or worse kidney problems can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. If you have had kidney problems in the past or take other medicines that can cause kidney problems, your healthcare provider may need to do blood tests to check your kidneys during your treatment with COMPLERA ��Depression or mood changes can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms: feeling sad or hopeless, feeling anxious or restless, or if you have thoughts of hurting yourself (suicide) or have tried to hurt yourself ��Bone problems can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. Bone problems include bone pain, softening or thinning (which may lead to fractures). Your healthcare provider may need to do additional tests to check your bones ��Changes in body fat can happen in people taking HIV medicine. These changes may include increased amount of fat in the upper back and neck (“buffalo hump”), breast, and around the main part of your body (trunk). Loss of fat from the legs, arms and face may also happen. The cause and long-term health effect of these conditions are not known ��Changes in your immune system (Immune Reconstitution Syndrome) can happen when you start taking HIV medicines. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to ﬁght infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your healthcare provider if you start having new symptoms after starting your HIV medicine

Common side effects associated with COMPLERA: ��trouble sleeping (insomnia), abnormal dreams, headache, dizziness, diarrhea,

nausea, rash, tiredness, and depression Other side effects associated with COMPLERA: ��vomiting, stomach pain or discomfort, skin discoloration (small spots or freckles),

and pain Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of COMPLERA. For more information, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist. Call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. Take COMPLERA exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it ��Always take COMPLERA with a meal. Taking COMPLERA with a meal is important to

help get the right amount of medicine in your body. A protein drink does not replace a meal ��Stay under the care of your healthcare provider during treatment with COMPLERA and see your healthcare provider regularly

Please see Patient Information for COMPLERA on the following pages. *The co-pay program covers up to $200 per month for 1 year from card activation or until the card expires, up to $2400 in a calendar year. The program is subject to change or cancellation at any time.

Learn more at www.COMPLERA.com

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

PGN

FDA-Approved Patient Labeling Patient Information COMPLERA® (kom-PLEH-rah) (emtricitabine, rilpivirine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) Tablets

COMPLERA may help: � Reduce the amount of HIV in your blood. This is called your “viral load”. � Increase the number of white blood cells called CD4+ (T) cells that help ﬁght off other infections.

Important: Ask your doctor or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with COMPLERA. For more information, see the section “What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking COMPLERA?”

Reducing the amount of HIV and increasing the CD4+ (T) cell count may improve your immune system. This may reduce your risk of death or infections that can happen when your immune system is weak (opportunistic infections).

Read this Patient Information before you start taking COMPLERA and each time you get a reﬁll. There may be new information. This information does not take the place of talking to your healthcare provider about your medical condition or treatment. What is the most important information I should know about COMPLERA?

COMPLERA does not cure HIV infections or AIDS. � Always practice safer sex. � Use latex or polyurethane condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with any body ﬂuids such as semen, vaginal secretions, or blood. � Never re-use or share needles.

Ask your healthcare provider if you have any questions about how to prevent passing COMPLERA can cause serious side effects, including: 1. Build-up of an acid in your blood (lactic acidosis). Lactic acidosis can happen in HIV to other people. some people who take COMPLERA or similar (nucleoside analogs) medicines. Lactic Who should not take COMPLERA? acidosis is a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. � Do not take COMPLERA if your HIV infection has been previously treated with Lactic acidosis can be hard to identify early, because the symptoms could seem like HIV medicines. symptoms of other health problems. Call your healthcare provider right away if you � Do not take COMPLERA if you are taking certain other medicines. For more get any of the following symptoms which could be signs of lactic acidosis: information about medicines that must not be taken with COMPLERA, see “What � feeling very weak or tired should I tell my healthcare provider before taking COMPLERA?” � have unusual (not normal) muscle pain � have trouble breathing What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking COMPLERA? � have stomach pain with Before you take COMPLERA, tell your healthcare provider if you: - nausea (feel sick to your stomach) � have liver problems, including hepatitis B or C virus infection - vomiting � have kidney problems � feel cold, especially in your arms and legs � have ever had a mental health problem � feel dizzy or lightheaded � have bone problems � have a fast or irregular heartbeat � are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if COMPLERA can harm your unborn child Pregnancy Registry. There is a pregnancy registry for women who take antiviral medicines during pregnancy. Its purpose is to collect information about the health of you and your baby. Talk to your healthcare provider about how you can take part in this registry. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms � are breast-feeding or plan to breast-feed. The Centers for Disease Control and of liver problems: Prevention recommends that mothers with HIV not breastfeed because they can pass � your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice). the HIV through their milk to the baby. It is not known if COMPLERA can pass through � dark “tea-colored” urine your breast milk and harm your baby. Talk to your healthcare provider about the best � light-colored bowel movements (stools) way to feed your baby. � loss of appetite for several days or longer Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription � nausea and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. � stomach pain 2. Severe liver problems. Severe liver problems can happen in people who take COMPLERA or similar medicines. In some cases these liver problems can lead to death. Your liver may become large (hepatomegaly) and you may develop fat in your liver (steatosis) when you take COMPLERA.

You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you are COMPLERA may affect the way other medicines work, and other medicines may female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking COMPLERA or a similar affect how COMPLERA works, and may cause serious side effects. If you take certain medicines with COMPLERA, the amount of COMPLERA in your body may be too low and medicine containing nucleoside analogs for a long time. it may not work to help control your HIV infection. The HIV virus in your body may become 3. Worsening of Hepatitis B infection. If you also have hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection resistant to COMPLERA or other HIV medicines that are like it. and you stop taking COMPLERA, your HBV infection may become worse (flare-up). A “flare-up” is when your HBV infection suddenly returns in a worse way than before. Do not take COMPLERA if you also take these medicines: COMPLERA is not approved for the treatment of HBV, so you must discuss your HBV � COMPLERA provides a complete treatment for HIV infection. Do not take other HIV medicines with COMPLERA. therapy with your healthcare provider. � the anti-seizure medicines carbamazepine (CARBATROL®, EQUETRO®, TEGRETOL®, � Do not let your COMPLERA run out. Refill your prescription or talk to your healthcare TEGRETOL-XR®, TERIL®, EPITOL®), oxcarbazepine (TRILEPTAL®), phenobarbital provider before your COMPLERA is all gone. (LUMINAL®), phenytoin (DILANTIN®, DILANTIN-125®, PHENYTEK®) � Do not stop taking COMPLERA without first talking to your healthcare provider. � the anti-tuberculosis medicines rifabutin (MYCOBUTIN®), rifampin (RIFATER®, � If you stop taking COMPLERA, your healthcare provider will need to check your health RIFAMATE®, RIMACTANE®, RIFADIN®) and rifapentine (PRIFTIN®) often and do regular blood tests to check your HBV infection. Tell your healthcare � a proton pump inhibitor medicine for certain stomach or intestinal problems, provider about any new or unusual symptoms you may have after you stop taking including esomeprazole (NEXIUM®, VIMOVO®), lansoprazole (PREVACID®), omeprazole COMPLERA. (PRILOSEC®), pantoprazole sodium (PROTONIX®), rabeprazole (ACIPHEX®) � more than 1 dose of the steroid medicine dexamethasone or dexamethasone sodium What is COMPLERA? COMPLERA is a prescription HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) medicine that: phosphate � is used to treat HIV-1 in adults who have never taken HIV medicines before. HIV is the � St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). If you are taking COMPLERA, you should not take: � contains 3 medicines, (rilpivirine, emtricitabine, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) � other medicines that contain tenofovir (VIREAD®, TRUVADA®, ATRIPLA®) combined in one tablet. EMTRIVA and VIREAD are HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency � other medicines that contain emtricitabine or lamivudine (EMTRIVA®, COMBIVIR®, virus) nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and EDURANT is an EPIVIR® or EPIVIR-HBV®, EPZICOM®, TRIZIVIR®) HIV-1 non-nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). � rilpivirine (EDURANT™) It is not known if COMPLERA is safe and effective in children under the age of 18 years. � adefovir (HEPSERA®)

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Also tell your healthcare provider if you take: The most common side effects of COMPLERA include: � an antacid medicine that contains aluminum, magnesium hydroxide, or calcium � trouble sleeping (insomnia) carbonate. Take antacids at least 2 hours before or at least 4 hours after you take � abnormal dreams COMPLERA. � headache � a histamine-2 blocker medicine, including famotidine (PEPCID®), cimetidine � dizziness (TAGAMET®), nizatidine (AXID®), or ranitidine hydrochloride (ZANTAC®). Take these � diarrhea medicines at least 12 hours before or at least 4 hours after you take COMPLERA. � nausea ® ® ® � the antibiotic medicines clarithromycin (BIAXIN ), erythromycin (E-MYCIN , ERYC , � rash ERY-TAB®, PCE®, PEDIAZOLE®, ILOSONE®), and troleandomycin (TAO®) � tiredness � an antifungal medicine by mouth, including fluconazole (DIFLUCAN®), itraconazole (SPORANOX®), ketoconazole (NIZORAL®), posaconazole (NOXAFIL®), voriconazole � depression (VFEND®) Additional common side effects include: � methadone (DOLOPHINE®) � vomiting Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you are not sure if your medicine is � stomach pain or discomfort � skin discoloration (small spots or freckles) one that is listed above. Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of your medicines and show it to your � pain healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. Your healthcare provider and your pharmacist can tell you if you can take these medicines with COMPLERA. Do not start any new medicines while you are taking COMPLERA without first talking with your healthcare provider or pharmacist. You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for a list of medicines that can interact with COMPLERA. How should I take COMPLERA? � Stay under the care of your healthcare provider during treatment with COMPLERA. � Take COMPLERA exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it. � Always take COMPLERA with a meal. Taking COMPLERA with a meal is important to help get the right amount of medicine in your body. A protein drink does not replace a meal. � Do not change your dose or stop taking COMPLERA without first talking with your healthcare provider. See your healthcare provider regularly while taking COMPLERA. � If you miss a dose of COMPLERA within 12 hours of the time you usually take it, take your dose of COMPLERA with a meal as soon as possible. Then, take your next dose of COMPLERA at the regularly scheduled time. If you miss a dose of COMPLERA by more than 12 hours of the time you usually take it, wait and then take the next dose of COMPLERA at the regularly scheduled time. � Do not take more than your prescribed dose to make up for a missed dose. � When your COMPLERA supply starts to run low, get more from your healthcare provider or pharmacy. It is very important not to run out of COMPLERA. The amount of virus in your blood may increase if the medicine is stopped for even a short time. � If you take too much COMPLERA, contact your local poison control center or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away. What are the possible side effects of COMPLERA? COMPLERA may cause the following serious side effects, including: � See “What is the most important information I should know about COMPLERA?” � New or worse kidney problems can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. If you have had kidney problems in the past or take other medicines that can cause kidney problems, your healthcare provider may need to do blood tests to check your kidneys during your treatment with COMPLERA. � Depression or mood changes. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms: - feeling sad or hopeless - feeling anxious or restless - have thoughts of hurting yourself (suicide) or have tried to hurt yourself � Bone problems can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. Bone problems include bone pain, softening or thinning (which may lead to fractures). Your healthcare provider may need to do additional tests to check your bones. � Changes in body fat can happen in people taking HIV medicine. These changes may include increased amount of fat in the upper back and neck (“buffalo hump”), breast, and around the main part of your body (trunk). Loss of fat from the legs, arms and face may also happen. The cause and long term health effect of these conditions are not known. � Changes in your immune system (Immune Reconstitution Syndrome) can happen when you start taking HIV medicines. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your healthcare provider if you start having new symptoms after starting your HIV medicine.

Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of COMPLERA. For more information, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 (1-800-332-1088). How do I store COMPLERA? � Store COMPLERA at room temperature 77 °F (25 °C). � Keep COMPLERA in its original container and keep the container tightly closed. � Do not use COMPLERA if the seal over the bottle opening is broken or missing. Keep COMPLERA and all other medicines out of reach of children. General information about COMPLERA: Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in a Patient Information leaflet. Do not use COMPLERA for a condition for which it was not prescribed. Do not give COMPLERA to other people, even if they have the same symptoms you have. It may harm them. This leaflet summarizes the most important information about COMPLERA. If you would like more information, talk with your healthcare provider. You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for information about COMPLERA that is written for health professionals. For more information, call (1-800-445-3235) or go to www.COMPLERA.com. What are the ingredients of COMPLERA? Active ingredients: emtricitabine, rilpivirine hydrochloride, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate Inactive ingredients: pregelatinized starch, lactose monohydrate, microcrystalline cellulose, croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, povidone, polysorbate 20. The tablet film coating contains polyethylene glycol, hypromellose, lactose monohydrate, triacetin, titanium dioxide, iron oxide red, FD&C Blue #2 aluminum lake, FD&C Yellow #6 aluminum lake. This Patient Information has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Manufactured and distributed by: Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, CA 94404 Issued: August 2011 COMPLERA, the COMPLERA Logo, EMTRIVA, HEPSERA, TRUVADA, VIREAD, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc. or its related companies. ATRIPLA is a trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb & Gilead Sciences, LLC. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. © 2012 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. 202123-GS-000 02AUG2011 CON12392 3/12

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

rts

In the eye

Singer to bring the By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com

It’s hard to categorize Storm Large. And she likes it that way. The singer, who describes herself as “sexually omnivorous” (ahem, bisexual), has spent most of her career as a singer and performer doing whatever inspires her with no regard to what anyone might think — whether it’s her own brand of rock music, her one-woman show based on her recent memoir “Crazy Enough,” touring with jazz/pop group Pink Martini or appearing on the reality-TV competition “Rock Star Supernova.” So what will happen when Storm Large takes the stage June 19 at World Cafe Live is anyone’s guess. “It always turns into a one-woman show,” she said. “I tell stories, especially when it’s just me and a piano. It’s an intimate space. I kind of veer off the track and talk about the songs and tell stories about my recent adventures or misadventures on the road. But it’s unscripted. It’s going to be an offthe-cuff fun cabaret performance.” Large is full of stories. One we were interested to hear is how she ended up singing for Pink Martini. It turned out Pink Martini singer and friend China Forbes had Large in mind when she had to sit out some performances for medical reasons. “I get this panicky phone call from [Pink Martini pianist] Thomas Lauderdale begging me to please, please come to

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Bulletin Board Family Portrait Out & About Scene in Philly Q Puzzle Worth Watching

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of the

thunder to Philly

Washington, D.C., to sing at It’s mutually beneficial and we love the Kennedy Center for Pink it. It’s turned into a great situation Martini because China has for everybody.” been ordered to stay on vocal Large said that even rest,” Large said. “I of course said, ‘No, though she never envisioned herjust cancel the show. You can’t throw me self as the kind of vocalist Pink in there. I don’t know any of your music.’ Martini would be interested in, she relished He said, ‘You can learn it.’ And the concert the opportunity to stretch her creative legs was in five days. He begged and begged and and perform with the group. “China is very elegant and she is classy finally China wrote me an email saying I’d be doing them a favor and I didn’t have to and beautiful,” she said. “Her visage on know it by heart. So I learned 10 songs in stage is much more elegant and classic. My five languages in as many days. The next energy on stage, whether I’m talking or just thing I know, I’m at the Kennedy Center standing there, is kind of a va-voom big with Pink Martini for four sold-out shows.” blond American energy, an old Hollywood Those four shows resulted in a semi-per- kind of deal. That was an adjustment for audiences. But they knew the story that I manent gig for Large. “She needed surgery and they had huge was doing everyone a favor and that I wasn’t tours booked,” Large said. “So we worked some whore that came along and stole the it out with my band and I toured with Pink post. It’s cool. It’s made me a better musiMartini all last year and we all had such cian and singer because it’s so different than what I’m used a good time. t o . B u t i t ’s China has a litclassical-style tle boy at home singing. So my and she was voice has gotkind of enjoyten stronger. ing time with I’m very happy her family, so about that.” now we’re at a happy situLarge’s abilation where ity to take on a China tours number of difhalf the time ferent genres and I tour half of music may the time with Pink Martini. STORM LARGE Photos: Owen Carey, Laura Domela (top) have been excit-

ing and fulfilling for her creatively, but she said it has also proven somewhat confusing to music-industry officials whenever they started sniffing around her and her career. “When I started playing music, the resounding call that I always heard from labels was: ‘We don’t know what to do with you,’” she said. “So I’ve been independent for 20 years. Labels have never given me a shot because I don’t fit in a box. They’re like, ‘You’re kind of hot but you’re kind of old’ [Large is 42] or ‘Your lyrics are smart.’ ‘You want to sing rock ’n’ roll but you’re kind of pretty.’ I just didn’t fit anywhere. I fit more in a theatrical cabaret world where the scope is much more open and inclusive — so long as you’re entertaining and you’re not a complete douchebag. People appreciate quality and hard work in that world. “I’ve always stymied music-industry people but they don’t even know I exist anymore because they’re pretty much dead. The Internet has really changed the landscape of all forms of expression and business of selling those expressions. Which is great because the old way was so stupid. They were looking for the lowest common denominator. They just love mediocre stupid shit. Whereas audiences have always preferred to find their own new thing and champion it.” Given her experiences with the music industry, it seems kind of odd that Large would participate in a TV show like “Rock Star: Supernova,” a 2006 reality-show competition in which music-industry insiders

PGN FEATURE

searched for a singer to front a rock band featuring ex-members of Motley Crüe, Guns n’ Roses and Metallica. She didn’t win, but she said the exposure she got from the show was worth it. “That was a really hard decision,” she said of the experience. “I was like, ‘I’m going to lose all credibility if I go do this.’ I figured come fame or shame, this will be, for as long as I am on television, a Storm Large commercial that I didn’t have to pay for. The most expensive aspect of being an independent artist is advertising and getting your brand out there. Television is the way people shop for products and things and personalities. [“Rock Star Supernova”] was about music. It wasn’t about the drama. There was some drama but it was more about music and performing than it was about who was sleeping with who. I knew whatever happened, it would get my name out there much farther and faster than I would be able to do on my own from my little corner of Portland.” Large’s name definitely got out there

enough to generate interest in her memoir, “Crazy Enough,” which was released earlier this year. In it, she talks about her childhood and visiting her mother in mental institutions and psych wards dealing with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, multiplepersonality disorder and depression. When she was 9, doctors told Storm her mother’s condition was hereditary and she would end up like her in her 20s. Storm spent her teenage years diving headlong into sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. In her 20s, facing a growing heroin addiction, she accepted an invitation to sing with a friend’s band and rediscovered her love of music, which inspired her to get her life back into some kind of order. But the doctors’ predictions were mere words. “That wasn’t so much the molding factor of my emotional development as a girl and a person,” Large said. “Looking at it in a large scope, everyone wants to be loved, and a mother is the first physical manifestation of love and that you’re going to be OK in this life, and it

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

was taken away from me very quickly. So I was brought into the world with a lot of hope and dreams and suddenly I’m cut off and isolated. So I think that had a lot to do with who I am today more than what anybody said. My sexuality was formed out of desperation and neediness and loneliness, the hungry hollow ghost that I was. “I think my life has been more about seeking the love that was absent from those early years and filling my life up with as much of it as I possibly can. And now it’s in a much healthier way than it was when I was a teenager.” Large said that writing her memoir provided moments of revelation that surprised even her. “Writing anything is just brutally lonely,” she said. “I’m sitting there going, This is the stupidest thing ever. I’m an idiot. Why do I think this is interesting? One revelation was deep, undying respect for writers. God bless them; I understand why so many are terrible alcoholics. Another revelation was the way we remember things when terrible things happen in our past. Most people remem-

ber them in a snapshot. And there might be feelings associated with that. In exploring it and putting the skin I was in back on, I realized that a lot of the terrible things that I experienced were my own fucking fault and my own choices that I was making. I suffered mightily in my quest to be tough and be cool and to be a man. Really, I wanted to be a man. I thought women were weak. My mother was the only representation of a woman in my life and she was weak and she wanted to die and she was small and she wept and hid and medicated and ran away. And I thought she was the weakest thing ever. So I thought being like a man would make me happy, strong and safe. In an effort to do that, I did a lot of hurtful things to others and to myself. So, realizing you had a hand in your misery is a healthy thing, but it’s humbling.” ■ Storm Large performs 9:30 p.m. at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. For more information or tickets, visit www.stormlarge.com or call 215-222-1400.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

PGN FILM

Out director at the helm of ‘Rock of Ages’ By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com With an overabundance of big hair and even bigger songs, “Rock of Ages,” the bigbudget adaptation of the Broadway smash, hits the big screen today. The story is about wide-eyed small-town girl Sherrie and city boy Drew, who meet on the Sunset Strip circa 1987 while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Serving as the sonic backdrop for their relationship is glee-infused hits of 1980s superstars Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Poison, Whitesnake and more. The movie also stars Mary J. Blige, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand and Tom Cruise, the latter as Stacee Jaxx, a rock star who’s an amalgamation of Axl Rose, David Lee Roth and Jim

Morrison. And we dare anyone to suppress at least a chuckle at the sight of Cruise tattooed, clad in leather claps and a codpiece, rising out of a pile of scantily clad and exhausted female groupies. Adam Shankman, the openly gay director of the film, known for his work on the film adaptation of “Hairspray” and as a judge on DIRECTOR ADAM SHANKMAN (LEFT) WITH JULIANNE HOUGH AS SHERRIE CHRISTIAN AND DIEGO BONETA AS DREW “So You Think You BOLEY Photo: Warner Bros./David James Can Dance,” said the movie is meant to be a fun comedy that everyone can sing along to. “It’s a party and a piece of wonderful silliness and entertainment,” he said. “It’s not there to do anything else. It’s the point of the show and it was important to me that that be the point of the movie. In ‘Hairspray,’ you have a movie about a heavyset girl who ends segregation. This has none of that. This has the sweetness of don’t compromise yourself and nothing matters without love and you can’t kill self-expression. The hardest thing about a jukebox musical is that you

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are using songs that were never intended for a character and trying to stick them with some level of honesty, if not irony or emotion, in a character’s mouth and make them feel as true as possible. Largely, I was guided by that premise.” Shankman said that for the sake of better storytelling, he did make some changes to the script from the musical, which is where the character of Patricia Whitmore (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) comes in: She’s a crusading politician’s wife who is leading a Parents Music Resource Center-styled group of housewives — who were responsible for getting “Parental advisory explicit lyrics” labels on albums in 1985 — and one of the main antagonists in the film. “I added the political realities of the time, with the Tipper Gore element,” Shankman said. “The moms are right out of a documentary called ‘The Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years.’” Shankman also decided to amp up the same-sex attraction between characters Dennis Dupree and Lonny Barnett, played by Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand, respectively. He said the two weren’t nearly as prone to man-on-man action in the stage version of the show. “Very strangely, the creators of the play had said to me that they were never, in theory, gay. They said it was the ultimate bromance. I said, ‘Well, being gay is the ultimate bromance.’ They said, ‘No, they’re just like good friends.’ I said they can’t sing ‘I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore’ about friendship. No one tries to fight a feeling about friendship. You can’t do this halfway. Wouldn’t that have been weird if they sang this song and gave each other a high five? That relationship is so sweet. With Alec I basically said, ‘You’re a guy that started a rock club in the 1960s and you’ve been getting stoned for so long that you didn’t realize that you were gay.’” Aside from the fun of watching Brand and Baldwin sing a power ballad to each other and share a lip lock, not to mention a borderline crazy performance by Cruise, music fans will also have a good time picking out the various ’80s rock stars making cameos in the film. “[The producers] asked me if I would be interested and I said, ‘I am if it doesn’t pull you out of the movie,’” Shankman said. “Let me see if there’s an area where I can do that where it felt appropriate.” Beyond the cameos, Shankman also didn’t make the bands into caricatures. “I had a very interesting thing happen. [Poison lead singer] Bret Michaels came to the set and I had just shot ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ and put it together. He watched it and he just grabbed me and hugged me and said, ‘Thank you for not making fun of us.’ That was nice and that meant a lot to me. This was an era that does a great job of making fun of itself.” ■ “Rock of Ages” opens in theaters nationwide today. For more information, visit rockofagesmovie.warnerbros.com.

PGN CABARET

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Quince’s gay cabaret ‘House’ gets fuller By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com Quince Productions is featuring new faces in its fourth annual “Full House: A Series of Cabarets,” running June 21-26 in the Red Room at Society Hill Playhouse. As in previous years, the series features well-known and undiscovered cabaret acts for a wide variety of performances. Artistic director Rich Rubin said “Full House” is bigger this year than it has ever been. “It has expanded to nine cabarets this year,” he said. “It’s gayer than it’s ever been, although it’s always been pretty gay. Basically, it’s the same kind of setup that we’ve had every year. It’s grown every year but the idea behind it is the same: a collection of different cabarets spread over several days so that every night and twice on Saturday and Sunday you have the chance to see different cabarets. The audience has been bigger and bigger every year. It has become one of our most popular events.” Returning performers to “Full House” this year include Deborah Billups in “I’m STILL ... Just Sayin’” (a follow-up to last year’s popular “I’m Just Sayin’”), AJ Luca, the only performer who has performed in all four years of “Full House”), and singer-actor Sarah J. Gafgen, a veteran of other Quince productions and last year’s “Full House.”

SHANNON AGNEW IN “IF I WERE A DRAG QUEEN I WOULD BE FAMOUS” Photo: Ginger Agnew

New faces include John Hodges in “Confused Pretty Thing” and Shannon Agnew in “If I Were a Drag Queen I Would Be Famous.” Both the new performers’ shows have a drag element, but they said it was merely a coincidence. “I had no idea what the other shows would be. It’s a funny combination,” Hodges said. His show is described as a gender-bending cabaret. “It’s more comedic,” he said. “I’m not doing full-on drag. I’m leaving on all the body hair and things. I’m only shaving my face and putting on some makeup. I figured for a half-hour in an informal space, it kind of fit pretty well. It’s going to discuss fash-

ion, clothing and how hard it is to get dressed in the morning. It’s going to have songs with clothing pieces in them.” Agnew’s show, on the other hand, is more of a nod to the glamour she associates with drag queens. “It’s kind of my homage to the drag show I would do if I was a drag queen,” she said. “It’s a night of impersonations of all my favorite Broadway divas, with some forbidden Broadway songs thrown in of my own creation.” Agnew said this show is her way of rebelling against the expectation people have about her. “For a performer like myself, it gives me an opportunity to reclaim my femininity in a strange way by doing a drag performance,” she said. “Oftentimes in the lesbian community, I’m told I’m not butch enough to be a lesbian and it’s lovely that I can explore it and make a jest at it in this way. Drag queens offer this new heightened version of femininity and I aspire to it and I think it’s wonderful.” Both Hodges and Agnew said “Full House” is an important forum for LGBT performers and audiences alike. “It’s easily accessible and it’s something you identify with,” Hodges said. “It’s great to have those connections and those role models and examples that you can do anything you want and anything is possible.”

Mario Cantone Sandra Bernhard All tickets are $20 at

JOHN HODGES IN “CONFUSED PRETTY THING” Photo: John Farris

“It’s an evening of laughter,” Agnew added. “Things are difficult right now and I think laughter is so important. It can really lighten the mood.” ■ Quince Productions presents “Full House: A Series of Cabarets,” June 21-26 in the Red Room at Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. Eighth St. For ticket information, show descriptions and a performance schedule, visit www.quinceproductions.com.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Community Bulletin Board

12-step programs and support groups

Community centers

Al-Anon

■ The Attic Youth Center: For LGBT and questioning youth and their friends and allies. Groups meet and activities are held 4-8 p.m. MondayFriday; case management, HIV testing and smoking cessation are available Monday-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, Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday

and Allies Youth Center: 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays: Doylestown Planned Parenthood, The Atrium, Suite 2E, 301 S. Main St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981; rainbowroom@ppbucks.org

■ William Way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center: 1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220; www.waygay.org. Hours: 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Peer counseling: 6-9 p.m. Monday through Friday Library hours: 12-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 12-3 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. Friday; 126 p.m. Saturday. Volunteers: New Orientation: First Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m.

■ Rainbow Room — Bucks County’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning

■ AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania: 215-587-9377

Key numbers

■ AIDS Law Project of Southern New Jersey: 856-933-9500 ext. 221

■ Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Peer Counseling Services: 215-732-TALK

■ AIDS Library: 215-985-4851

■ Mayor’s Director of LGBT Affairs: Gloria Casarez, 215-6862194; Gloria.Casarez@phila.gov; Fax: 215-686-2555

■ ACLU of Pennsylvania: 215592-1513 ■ AIDS Treatment Fact line: 1800-662-6080 ■ Barbara Gittings Gay and Lesbian Collection at the Independence Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library: 215-685-1633 ■ The COLOURS Organization Inc.: 112 N. Broad St., third floor; 215-496-0330 ■ Equality Pennsylvania: 215731-1447; www.equalitypa.org ■ Equality Forum: 215-732-3378

■ Mazzoni Center: 215-563-0652; www.mazzonicenter.org. Legal Services: 215-563-0657, 866-LGBTLAW; legalservices@mazzonicenter. org ■ Mazzoni Center Family & Community Medicine: 215-563-0658 ■ Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (Philadelphia): 215-572-1833

Health

AIDS Services In Asian Communities Provides HIV-related services to Asians and Pacific Islanders at 340 N. 12th St., Suite 205; 215-629-2300. www.asiac.org Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative Free, anonymous HIV testing from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 1207 Chestnut St., fifth floor; 12-6 p.m. Tuesdays at the Washington West Project, 1201 Locust St. 215851-1822 or 866-222-3871. www.galaei.org. Spanish/English 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 and confidential HIV testing

■ Greater Philadelphia Professional Network Networking group for area business professionals, self-employed and business owners meets monthly in a different location throughout the city, invites speakers on various topics, partners with other nonprofits and maintains a Web site where everyone is invited to sign up for e-mail notices for activities and events.; www.gppn.org.

■ Philadelphia Police Department liaison — Deputy Commissioner Stephen Johnson: 215-683-2840 ■ Philadelphia Police Liaison Committee: 215-760-3686; ppd. lgbt@gmail.com ■ Philly Pride Presents: 215875-9288 ■ SPARC — Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition: 717-9209537 ■ Transgender Health Action Coalition: 215-732-1207 (staffed 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 6-9 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays)

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

Anonymous, free, conﬁdential HIV testing Spanish/English counselors offer testing 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday at Congreso de Latinos Unidos, 3439 N. Hutchinson St..; 215-763-8870 ext. 6000.

■ Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia GALLOP holds board meetings at 6:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at 100 S. Broad St., Suite 1810; GALLOP also provides a free referral service; (215) 6279090; www.galloplaw.org.

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

Mazzoni Center Family & Community Medicine Comprehensive primary health care, preventive health services, gynecology, sexual-health services and chronic-disease management, including comprehensive HIV care; 809 Locust St.; 215-563-0658. Washington West Project Free, anonymous HIV testing. Walk-ins welcome 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday except for 12-1 p.m. and 5-6 p.m. and 1-5 p.m. Saturday; 1201 Locust St.; 215-985-9206.

■ National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association The Philadelphia chapter of NLGJA, open to professionals

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

■ Acceptance meets 7:30 p.m. on Fridays at

Episcopal Church, 22nd and Spruce streets.

■ Meets daily 8:30-9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m-

midnight and 11 a.m.-noon at the William Way Center. ■ Community meets 8 p.m. on Thursdays at Holy Communion Church, 2111 Sansom St. Gay and lesbian but all are welcome. ■ GLBT Alcoholics Anonymous meets 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 11 a.m. Sundays at the William Way Center. ■ Night Owl meets 11:30 p.m. Sunday through Saturday at the William Way Center. ■ Stepping Stone meets 2:30 p.m. Mondays at the William Way Center. ■ Meets 5:30-6:30 p.m. daily at Washington West Project, 1201 Locust St.; 215-985-9206. ■ Ties That Bind Us, a 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous meeting for the BDSM, leather and alternative sexuality community, meets 7:30-9 p.m. in South Philadelphia. For location, call 800-581-7883.

Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA)

■ Meets 7 p.m. on Sunday, Tuesday,

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at the William Way Center.

Emotional Support

Mazzoni Center Free, anonymous HIV testing; HIV/AIDS care and treatment, case management and support groups; 21 S. 12th St., eighth ﬂoor; 215-563-0652. www.mazzonicenter.org.

■ Independence Business Alliance Greater Philadelphia’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce, providing networking, business development, marketing, educational and advocacy opportunities for LGBT and LGBT-friendly businesses and professionals. Visit www.IndependenceBusinessAlliance.com for information about events, programs and membership; 215-557-0190; 1717 Arch St., Suite 3370.

Pennsylvania Al-Anon Alateen Family Groups: Events, meeting times and locations at pa-al-anon.org.

■ Pink and Blues, a free peer-run mental-health

available by appointment at 13 S. MacDade Blvd., Suite 108, Collingdale; Medical Ofﬁce Building, 722 Church Lane, Yeadon; and 630 S. 60th St.; 610-5869077.

Professional groups

■

and students, meets for social and networking events; www.nlgjaphiladephia.org. ■ Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus A regional organization dedicated to promoting gay and lesbian tourism to the Greater Philadelphia Region, holds meetings every other month on the fourth Thursday (January, March, May, July, September and the third Thursday in November), open to the public; P.O. Box 58143, Philadelphia, PA 19102; www.philadelphiagaytourism.com. ■ Philly OutGoing Professionals Social group for gay, lesbian and bisexual professionals meets for social and cultural activities; 856857-9283; popnews19@yahoo. com.

support group for LGBT people, meets 7 p.m. Wednesdays at St. Luke and The Epiphany Church, 330 S. 13th St.; 215-627-0424. ■ Survivors of Suicide Inc. meets 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 7:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month at Paoli Memorial Hospital, Willistown Room, Medical Ofﬁce Building; 215-545-2242; phillysos.tripod.com.

HIV/AIDS

■ 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 6-8 p.m. at 112 N. Broad St., 11th floor; 215-496-0330. Tuesdays: ■ A support group for HIV-positive men and women meets 1:30-3 p.m. at BEBASHI — Transition to Hope, 1217 Spring Garden St., first floor; 215-769-3561. bebashi.org. ■ Encuentros Positivos, a group for HIVpositive Latino men who have sex with men, meets the first and third Tuesday of the month at 1205 Chestnut St. ■ “Feast Incarnate,” a weekly ministry for people affected by HIV/AIDS, meets 5 p.m. at University Lutheran Church, 3637 Chestnut St. Bible study follows at 6 p.m.; 215-3872885. ■ A support group for people recently diagnosed with HIV/AIDS meets 6:30-8 p.m. at the Mazzoni Center; 215-563-0652 ext. 235. ■ Youth Outreach Adolescent Community Awareness Program’s Voice It Sistah, a support group for HIV-positive women,

meets 11 a.m. every ﬁrst and third Tuesday at YOACAP, 1207 Chestnut St., Suite 315; 215851-1898. Wednesdays: ■ AIDS Services in Asian Communities’ weekly volunteer work group meets 6-8 p.m. at 340 N. 12th St., Suite 205; 215-629-2300. ■ Project Teach, a peer-education and empowerment program for people living with HIV/AIDS, meets at Philadelphia Fight, 1233 Locust St.; ﬁght.org. ■ Positive Effect, for HIV-positive people 18 and over, meets 5-7 p.m. the second and fourth Wednesdays at Camden AHEC, 514 Cooper St., Camden, N.J.; 856-963-2432. Thursdays: ■ A support group for HIV-positive men and women meets 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; azaklad@craftech.com. Saturdays: ■ AIDS Delaware’s You’re Not Alone youth support group meets during the school year. Call 800-810-6776 for meeting location and time.

Debtors Anonymous

■ Meets 7-8 p.m. Monday and Thursday at the

William Way Center.

Overeaters Anonymous (OA)

■ Open meeting, Tuesdays, 5:45 p.m., and

7 p.m. Fridays, at Hahnemann University Hospital, 245 N. 15th St.; call Troy for ﬂoor/ room number, 215-514-3065; www.oa.org. ■ Meets 11 a.m.-noon at the William Way Center.

S.A.R.A.

■ Substance Abuse – Risk Assessment; day and

evening hours; 215-563-0663 ext. 282.

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous

■ Meets 7:30 p.m.Thursdays at All Saints

Church, 18 Olive Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del.; 302-542-3279.

SEPCADD

■ Safe space to meet and discuss substance

abuse problems at the William Way Center.

Health

Alder Health Services provides LGBT health services on a sliding-fee scale; 100 N. Cameron St., Ste. 301 East, Harrisburg; 717-233-7190 or 800-867-1550; www.alderhealth.org. Anonymous, free HIV testing with Spanish/ English counselors, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. MondayFriday at Congreso de Latinos Unidos, 3439 N. Hutchinson St.; 215-763-8870 ext. 6000. HIV treatment: Free HIV/AIDS diagnosis and treatment for Philadelphia residents available 9 a.m.-noon Mondays and 5-8 p.m. Thursdays at Health Center No. 2, 1720 S. Broad St.; 215685-1803. HIV health insurance help: Access to free medications and confidential HIV testing available at 17 MacDade Blvd., Suite 108, Collingdale; Medical Office Building, 722 Church Lane, Yeadon; and 630 S. 60th St.; 610586-9077. Philadelphia FIGHT provides HIV primary care, on-site lab services, clinical trials, case management, mental-health services and support groups for people living with HIV regardless of insurance status or ability to pay; 1233 Locust St., fifth floor; 215-985-4448; www. fight.org.

PROFILE PGN

Family Portrait

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Suzi Nash

Azeem Hill: From Hybrid X to Philly Pride This year’s Pride Day was once again cause for celebration. Fun with headliner Wendy Williams, grand marshals Betty (the band) and Brian Sims, anticipated to be the state’s first openly gay legislator, and organizations showing pride made it memorable. It was especially celebratory for Azeem Hill who served along with Phantazia Washington as one of the youth grand marshals this year. Not a bad way to celebrate his first Pride day ever! PGN: How was it? AH: It was awesome. I rode on the float and waved the whole parade. The positive energy out there was amazing. There was so much pride and support for everyone. PGN: Tell me a little about yourself. AH: I was born North Philly. I have two brothers and a sister. I went to West Philadelphia High, where I was the captain of the Hybrid X Team, which was a pretty big deal. I was also a member of the Philadelphia Student Union. PGN: What were you like as a kid? AH: My childhood kind of sucked. I wasn’t an around-the-way kind of guy, it was just the usual difficulties of a young man of color growing up in a poor community in the city. There was also a lot of bullying on top of that. PGN: What did you enjoy in school? AH: I always gravitated toward English and literature and whatnot. PGN: Who was a favorite teacher? AH: I was always a teacher’s pet. My grandmother was a teacher so I really connect with them: I love teachers. In fourth grade, Mrs. Hubbard was a favorite. She helped get me involved in the performing arts. I remember we did a play about Harriet Tubman and she also had us watch the miniseries “Roots.” It helped connect us to our heritage in a more in-depth way than most teachers did. It was also the year of Sept. 11 and she was the one to take a moment to talk to us about it. It was a very memorable year with her. PGN: What were some of the things you were involved with in school? AH: My two big passions were the Hybrid X Team — I was the captain — and I was also a member of the Philadelphia Student Union. PGN: What’s the Hybrid X Team, aside from a really cool name? AH: We basically built hybrid cars that got over 100 miles per gallon. We competed in the Progressive [Insurance] Automotive X Prize competition, which was a $10million competition. We had to build and create a business plan for the cars. We

were about the only high-school team in the world competing. It was crazy, a oncein-a-lifetime experience. We got to meet a lot of interesting people: I got to be on the “Today” show and was a panelist at the Annual Leadership Conference of the Congressional Caucus. It was amazing. PGN: And the Philadelphia Student Union? AH: The PSU helped cultivate me to be a captain. I learned a lot of leadership skills there. We did a lot of grassroots organizing, so I learned a lot about base building, strategy and community building, things I didn’t get in class that will follow me for the rest of my life. I love what I do now. PGN: Which is? AH: I’m an intern for the PSU! PGN: I read that you stated that going to West had its challenges because you and your classmates had complicated personal backgrounds, but being on the Hybrid team forced you to ignore all of that and pull together your strengths. AH: It’s true — going to an inner-city public high school is not always the most empowering thing. It’s persistently dangerous and you don’t really feel as though your school is for you. It’s like you don’t have a voice and the content is not geared for the way students learn today. It’s hard to have a real-world identity there. So it’s easy to get swept up into the drama of the streets and real life. Of course there are a handful of teachers and administrators that do get it. The positive media and positive attention that we attracted for the Hybrid X Team was like a breath of fresh air and a break from your daily surroundings. It helped a lot of people build not just cars but a pathway to success. It proved that if you engage young people in something that’s real — that has real-world application — kids are ready to step up to the plate. It also smashed a lot of stereotypes because a lot of people didn’t even think young people of color could build a car, much less design an award-winning hybrid. I loved it and that’s what I’m trying to do now — to take some of those skills and apply them to the gay community. I think there’s so much need out there, for gay kids especially, and I’d like to help empower them and give them a voice. I also think we sometimes segregate ourselves and stay within our own comfort groups, and we would benefit from reaching out and engaging with other people. PGN: I agree, especially with kids of color. It’s important to have places where we feel comfortable and have our specific needs addressed, but we also have to learn to participate in larger groups to have our voices heard.

AH: Yeah, a lot of kids are conditioned to think they can only do certain things: They never even entertain the idea of being a scientist or inventor. With the Hybrid X Team, we challenged the idea of what a smart person looked like or what an innovator looked like or came from. We beat out the team from MIT multiple times! PGN: How are the schools not serving students? AH: I think they’re not keeping up with the way kids learn. As a young person, I have access to information and tools that you would normally get in school that I can now get for myself. A lot of us know what we want to do, and sometimes school seems like a barrier from getting out there and doing it. We’re anxious to start a career and the schools are focused on test scores so that they can get funding. Schools are under attack just to stay afloat, which is a political form of violence. Our schools should be a keystone of the community. We’re not concerned about standardized

tests: We care about making schools a place young people want to be. That’s one of the many reason why schools don’t work for a lot of young people. Another thing is that people are much more interconnected on the Internet: You associate with people according to common interests instead of by race or economic status and, in school, they just seem to pile people together. I could rave on and on! PGN: And what are some solutions?

AH: Start by giving young people decisionmaking power about what happens at the school. There’s too much top-down decision making. Young people feel a disconnect because they’re not part of the process and it creates a bad school environment. PGN: If you let the kids run the school, you don’t think they’d vote for all-day recess with a two-hour lunch break? AH: No, actually, I don’t. Kids are kids, but they want to be successful. I think a lot of them know what they want and I think they’d come up with some revolutionary stuff to make it happen. PGN: You facilitated 15 weeks of Creative Action Group programming with The Attic Youth Center doing political and social study. How are LBGTQ youth being pushed out of schools? AH: In essence, LGBT kids are being pushed out and sometimes dumped into the prison system because kids trying to express their homosexuality or gender identity or any difference get picked on and become targets more than most. It’s a touchy problem because in those situations, people — especially guys — feel like they have something to prove. No one wants to pick on a gay person and then get beat by them. So everything is at an elevated level. My experience has been that teachers don’t know how to deal with it, even the ones that want to support you. As a result, small situations can escalate quickly. For me, if I wasn’t trained in nonviolent ways of communicating, I too could have reacted violently to the harassment and gotten in trouble — kicked out of school or worse. That’s why I was lucky to have those extracurricular programs: It gave me something that made me want to be there, made me want to stay out of trouble. Photo: Suzi Nash

PGN: Good points. AH: There’s also a lot of inappropriate sexual harassment. Like if someone knows you’re gay, they may think it’s OK to slap or grab your butt in the locker room all in the name of “goodnatured fun,” and you have to try to stop it by saying, “Come on now, you know how I feel about that, it’s not OK.” Or thinking that because you are gay that everything is about sex for you and that it’s all that you think about and PAGE 44

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

PGN

Q Puzzle What’s a Matzo? Across

1. Hazard for Sheehan 5. Like some division 9. “Ed Wood” role 13. Gauche side, for Debussy 14. New Age music superstar 15. “Phantom” scar source 16. Start of a Fay Jacobs saying about matzo 19. F.D.R. or J.F.K., e.g. 20. City of Capote’s birth 21. Sked info 22. Home state of J. Nabors 23. “... farewell, auf

Wiedersehen, ___” 24. Uncool sort 26. Chat rm. exaggeration? 29. Muscle Mary’s weight training unit 30. Disaster sorting 33. Appear to be 36. More of the saying 39. Responder to “Bite me!”? 40. The “former next president” 43. Present mo.? 46. “___-hoo! Fellas!” 48. Clay Aiken was almost one 49. Flee to a samesex marriage state 52. Neighbor of Mex. 55. Verb ending 56. Church member named for a member?

59. “Culpa” starter 60. End of the saying 62. A little behind 63. Lickety-split (abbr.) 64. Sgt. Snorkel’s pooch 65. Marvel Comics superhero 66. ___ guys (Robin Hood’s men?) 67. One with a foamy head

Down

1. Neptune’s tool 2. Rosie’s WWII job 3. Prayer to the Queen of Heaven 4. White House souvenir 5. Fair kind of playing field 6. Like unrequited loved 7. “Eli’s Coming”

songwriter Laura 8. Teri of “Tootsie” 9. Worked the hayfields 10. It may cream your face when you bite it 11. Mortgage holder 12. Comes out correctly 17. Bambi character that wasn’t horny? 18. Slangy intensifier 25. Mild oath 27. Data transmission letters 28. Ward of “Once and Again” 31. MD for women 32. Auction web site 34. Subj. for those of a different tongue 35. Threesome who went to see Mary 37. From ___ Z (the whole shebang)

38. Anal type? 41. Tinged with pink 42. She loved Franklin and Lorena 43. Treat, as seawater 44. Christian name of the half-brother of Chaz 45. Open one’s eyes 47. One who’s wanted 50. Juice, so to speak 51. Bowie collaborator 53. Oozes through 54. Caligula’s arts 57. Ask for it while kneeling 58. Cushiness 61. Choreographer Fosse PAGE 43

Are you a community leader? Bia Vieira, longtime activist and vice president for community impact, Philadelphia Foundation Quincy Greene, founder, Educational Justice Coalition David Acosta, writer, poet, longtime HIV/health activist, prevention coordinator for HIV programs at AIIDS Activities Coordinating Ofﬁce Joe Ippolito, founder/organizer of the Gender Reel multimedia festival Monica Bey-Clarke, author, entrepeneur, founder of My Family! books and products for LGBT families Sue Gildea, women’s commissioner, City of Brotherly Love Softball League

These people made the grade and were covered in PGN’s “Portrait” column by Suzi Nash. Every week, Suzi talks to people making a difference in Philadelphia. Has she talked to you yet?

PGN

Outward Bound

Jeff Guaracino

Pride never ends! Philadelphia’s official 2012 PrideDay Parade and Festival may be over but gay Pride events continue. Congratulations to everyone at Philly Pride Presents who showed residents and visitors alike why Philly is a great Pride town. Pride can be celebrated all year long. Road trip anyone?

Worth Watching LITTLE RED CORVETTE: Race car Lightning McQueen learns on an unexpected detour to a sleepy little town that there are more important things than trophies and fame in the animated movie “Cars,” 8 p.m. June 16 on ABC. Photo: Disney/ Pixar

NEW YORK CITY PRIDE 2011 WITH MAYOR MICHAEL New York City BLOOMBERG (FROM LEFT), COUNCIL PRESIDENT Who doesn’t love the Big CHRISTINE QUINN, N.Y. SEN. TOM DUANE, GOV. Apple during New York City ANDREW CUOMO AND SANDRA LEE File photo Pride? The Heritage of Pride Festival begins June 16 with $1,000 round trip. Visit www.virginamerica. the majority of the official (and unofficial) com but note airfares change frequently. events June 22-24. There is a Fifth Avenue march, multiple dance events and a vendor Montréal area. Grammy Award-winning artist Cyndi Could Montréal be the gayest city in all Lauper and other celebrities will strut their of Canada? Montréal is so fabulous to the stuff. There is too much to do to list here: LGBT traveler, there are now three ways Check out www.nycpride.org for the what, to show your pride in the close-by, gaywhen, where and how you can do it. friendly international destination. A n d Montréal’s Divers/Cité, best known as don’t for- Montréal’s LGBT festival for the past 20 get it’s the years, is evolving into a festival of creativo n e - y e a r ity, music and art. It takes place July 30a n n i v e r - Aug. 5. Check out www.diverscite.org for a s a r y o f complete listing of events. New York The new Montréal Pride Week, Aug. state pass- 11-19, bills itself as a celebration of the ing legis- diversity, individuality and pride within the lation for LGBT community. Visit www.fiertemonsame-sex trealpride.com/en/ for more information. THE POOL AT HOTEL couples to Maybe you are the Queer of the Year? The GANSEVOORT marry. To third annual Queer of the Year competition, show off hosted by Tourisme Montréal, kicked off in their pride, the Gansevoort Hotel Group June and runs through the end of August. is offering “Mr. & Mr.”/“Mrs. & Mrs.” Five finalists will be flown to LGBT-loving Packages. Starting at $645 for a superior Montréal for an all-expenses-paid week of room and $935 for a suite, the package challenges, adventure and high-performance includes a fabulous room, two one-hour fun. Organizers say this year’s competition massages, car service to City Hall and and festivities are going to be harder, bolder, booze! Visit www.gansevoortpark.com and faster, funnier and more absurd. Visit www. www.hotelgansevoort.com for more infor- facebook.com/QOTYcontest through July mation. 20 for more information.

San Francisco Think you can’t be in two prides at once? Now you can, thanks to a new partnership between Clear Channel and San Francisco Pride. On June 24, tune in online at www. SFPrideLive.com and be part of the thirdlargest Pride parade in the United States. The broadcast is live and uncensored. It begins at 10 a.m. PST. Better settle in with your computer, iPad or whatever device you will use to log in. There are more than 200 parade contingents, 300 exhibitors and more than 20 stages and venues. And if being there in person is on your bucket list, good news! The fabulous Virgin America airline, which has begun new nonstop service between Philadelphia and San Francisco, had recent airfares at less than

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

More Pride Among my very favorite pride events is the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade, marking 29 years this Sept. 16. Check out www. dallasprideparade.com for more info. This weekend Baltimore shows its Pride, June 15-17, with a block party, parade and festival. Visit www.baltimorepride.org for more information. For something a little closer to home, RisQue Atlantic City Pride kicks off July 59. Check out www.atlanticcitypride.org. I’ll see you there! ■ Jeff Guaracino is the vice-chair of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association and author of “Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketing.”

‘U’ GOT THE LOOK: “RuPaul’s Drag U” is back for a new season where biological women are treated to show-stopping makeovers and real-world hair, makeup and fashion tips from the drag queens from “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The season premiere features Lady Bunny (from left), Candice Cayne, Robin Givens and RuPaul, 9 p.m. June 18 on Logo. Photo: Logo/World of Wonder/Aaron Young

STOP TRIPPIN’: Bristol Palin, our favorite rightwing single mother who likes to preach to teenagers about abstinence, shows the world what happens to one’s life when hypocrisy, notoriety and the willingness to exploit one’s child for a fast buck collide on her new reality show, “Bristol Palin: Life’s Tripp” 10 p.m. June 19 on Lifetime. Photo: Richard Knapp

UNBELIEVABLE: Go behind the scenes of award-winning and record-breaking superstar Justin Bieber’s whirlwind global tour as he showcases his new album “Believe,” on his first-ever network special “Justin Bieber: All Around the World,” 8 p.m. June 21 on NBC.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

OUT & ABOUT The week ahead Fri. 06/15 G. Winston James The author of “Shaming the Devil: Collected Short Stories” hosts a reading 5:30 p.m. at Giovanni’s Room, 345 S. 12th St.; 215-923-2960. Holler! An open-mic night, 7 p.m. at Giovanni’s Room, 345 S. 12th St.; 215-923-2960. Bootsy Collins The legendary funk bass player performs 8 p.m. at Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave.; 215-572-7650.

Earth Wind & Fire The legendary R&B group performs 8 p.m. at Kimmel’s Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St.; 215-790-5800. MST3K: The Beast of Yucca Flats The bad horror film is lampooned, 9:45 p.m. at Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610917-0223.

Bonnie Raitt The Grammy-winning blues guitarist performs 8 p.m. at Kimmel’s Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St.; 215-7905800. Keane The English altrock band performs 8 p.m. at Kimmel’s Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St.; 215-790-5800. Sisters Sweet 16 Anniversary Party Sisters Nightclub celebrates 8 p.m.2 a.m., 1320 Chancellor St.; 215-735-0735.

Sat. 06/16

Sun. 06/17

The Beach Boys The classicrock band performs 8 p.m. at Susquehanna Bank Center, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden, N.J.; 856-365-1300.

Charade The 1963 Cary Grant film is screened 2 p.m. at Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610917-0223.

PGN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS

Dragonslayer The 2011 documentary is screened 4:30 p.m. at Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610917-0223. Janet Mason, Kathy Anderson and Sally Bellerose The authors host a reading 5:30 p.m. at Giovanni’s Room, 345 S. 12th St.; 215-923-2960. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals The alt-rock band performs 8 p.m. at World Cafe Live at the Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del.; 302-994-1400.

Mon. 06/18 Groove Night Local musicians join forces to bring

the R&B, soul, jazz and funk, 7 p.m. at World Cafe Live at the Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del.; 302-994-1400. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi The sci-fi classic is screened 7:30 p.m. at Sellersville Theater 1894, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville; 215257-5808. The Princess Bride The fantasy film is screened 8 p.m. at the Trocadero Theatre, 1003 Arch St.; 215-9226888. Lipstick Mondays A weekly drag show featuring a changing roster of queens takes the stage 9 p.m. at The Raven, 385 W. Bridge St., New Hope; 215-8622081.

Tue. 06/19 Unlabeled: The Acoustic/ Electric Open Mic for Up and Comers Sign up and play, 7 p.m. at World Cafe Live at the Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del.; 302-994-1400. A Mighty Wind The comedy film is screened 8 p.m. at World Cafe Live at the Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del.; 302-994-1400.

LADY SINGS THE BLUES: Grammywinning blues guitarist Bonnie Raitt comes to Philly touring to support her new album, “Slipstream,” with special guest gospel legend Mavis Staples, performing 8 p.m. June 16 at Kimmel’s Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St. For more information, call 215790-5800.

Storm Large The singer seen with Pink Martini and on “Rockstar: Supernova” performs 9:30 p.m. at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St.; 215222-1400.

Wed. 06/20

Fri. 06/22 Bob and Barbara’s Drag Show The outrageousness begins 11 p.m. at Bob and Barbara’s, 1509 South St.; 215545-4511. Jon McLaughlin The acclaimed

pianist performs 8 p.m. at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St.; 215-222-1400. Antigone Rising The rock band with out members performs 8:30 p.m. at Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St.; 215928-0770.

4W5 Blues Jam Local musicians get down 7 p.m. at World Cafe Live at the Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del.; 302-9941400. The Hives The alt-rock band performs 8 p.m. at The Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St.; 800745-3000.

Thu. 06/21 Comedian Deconstruction Jess Carpenter hosts the Gay Pride Comedian Deconstruction 7:30-10:30 p.m. at L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St.; 215592-0656.

Notices Send notices at least one week in advance to: Out & About Listings, PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 fax: 215-925-6437; or e-mail: listings@epgn.com. Notices cannot be taken over the phone.

COMEDY’S NIGHT OUT: Comedian Jess Carpenter hosts the Gay Pride edition of his monthly Comedian Deconstruction show, featuring out performers Julia Scotti (from top), Alejandro Morales, James Bradford and improv team Malone, 7:3010:30 p.m. June 21 at L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St. For more information or tickets, call 215-592-0656 or visit www.comediandeconstruction.com.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PGN LISTINGS

Opening Full House: A Series of Cabarets Quince Production presents nine cabarets with LGBT performers and content, June 21-26 at Red Room at Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. Eighth St.; 215-923-0210.

Continuing Angels In America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches Wilma Theater presents the Tony Awardwinning epic play through July 1, 265 S. Broad St.; 215-546-7824. Animal Issue The James Oliver Gallery presents a representational perspective of animal proportions featuring Lars Kremer, Emily Bowser, Alex Spinney and Jessica Nissen, through June 23; 723 Chestnut St.; 215-923-1242. The Art of German Stoneware Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an

seen by the public, through Sept. 3, 525 Arch St., Independence Mall; 215-4096895. A Grand Night for Singing Walnut Street Theater presents Broadway’s tribute to the genius of Rodgers & Hammerstein, through July 1 at Independence Studio on 3, 825 Walnut St.; 215-574-3550. Lucky Stiff The Centre Theater presents the comedy following the nerdy English shoe salesman Harry Witherspoon as he tries to win his multimillion-dollar inheritance by taking his dead uncle’s corpse to Monte Carlo for a final fun-filled vacation, through June 24 at the Montgomery County Cultural Center, 208 DeKalb St.; 610-279-1013 or www. thecentretheater.org. The Marvelous Wonderettes The 11th Hour Theatre Company takes you to the 1958 Springfield High School prom, where we meet the Wonderettes, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their hoop

ROCK ON: BRAT Productions presents “SAGA: The Rock Opera,” June 20-23 at L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St. The rock ’n’ roll theater spectacle stars out actor Erik Ransom, who wrote, composed and developed this workshop performance, channeling the synth-pop sound of the ’80s as well as Nordic mythology and Wagnerian opera. For more information or tickets, visit www.BRATproductions.org or BRATproductions.ticketleap.com.

exhibition of stoneware ceramics from German-speaking centers in modern-day Germany and the Low Countries, through Aug. 5, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100. Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story Walnut Street Theater presents the story of the early rock ’n’ roll star through July 15, 825 Walnut St.; 215-574-3550. Collab: Four Decades of Giving Modern and Contemporary Design Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition that includes some of the finest examples of European, American and Japanese design, through fall, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100. Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night InterAct Theatre company presents a drama exploring issues of racial and personal identity through June 24 at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St.; 215-568-8079. From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen The National Constitution Center presents an exhibition looking at The Boss’ entire career, with numerous items never before

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Rockwell Kent — Voyager: An Artist’s Journey in Prints, Drawings and Illustrated Books Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition of works by the famous printmaker and illustrator, through July 29, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100. Secret Garden Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition uniting works in fiber by Ted Hallman, Sheila Hicks and Jim Hodges, through July, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100. Tulipomania: The Musical Arden Theatre Company presents the world premiere of a musical paralleling modernday financial collapses with the tulip craze of 1636, through July 1, 40 N. Second St.; 215-922-1122.

Closing Dark Sisters The Opera Company of Philadelphia performs with an ensemble of strong female stars through June 17 at Kimmel’s Perelman Theater, 260 S. Broad St.; 215-790-5800. PGMC Legacy Concert The Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates 30 years with a showcase of their best from across the decades, through June 16 at Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St.; www.pgmc.org. ■

skirts, through June 24 at The Skybox at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St.; 267-9879865. Ralph Eugene Meatyard: Dolls and Masks Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition of works by the photographer and artist that explores concepts in visual perception, through Aug. 5, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100. Q PUZZLE from page 40

BASS-IC INSTINCTS: The legendary funk bass player Bootsy Collins made a name for himself in groups like Parliament Funkadelic and Dee-Lite, as well as a solo artist. Catch the spacey musician when his mothership lands 8 p.m. June 15 at Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside. For more information or tickets, call 215-572-7650.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Food & Drink

PROFILE PGN PORTRAIT from page 39

all you are. It’s very toxic. Those are some of the things that need to be broken down; we need to start acknowledging what really goes on in the schools. It’s one of the reasons that I love The Attic Youth Center. It’s my second year there and they helped me figure out things even I didn’t realize were happening to me when I was in school. We not only talked about things, we came up with solutions for them, which is very empowering. I hadn’t been around a lot of young, gay people of color before and they did an amazing job of making everyone feel comfortable. It was a mind-blowing experience. PGN: What’s your first recollection of another LGBT person? AH: I think from TV. I used to watch a lot of comedies and it was probably seeing men in drag or something. Which gave the impression that it was something to laugh at. PGN: Tell me about your coming out. AH: It’s still an ongoing process. I’m working with my family: They know I’m gay, but I’m trying to make them feel comfortable and get them to understand what it means, breaking stereotypes that they may have. But I’m lucky in that I have parents who let me know that they love me. PGN: You’ve teamed with a number of interesting people, with all the work you’ve done. What’s a lesson learned from one of them? AH: It’s hard to say: I think I’ve learned from them collectively. If I had to pick one, I’d say that I learned a lot about race from Asian Americans United. As a black person, I learned about how race and immigration affects other communities and

how communication can be a huge factor, like in the case of the racial tensions at South Philadelphia High between the Asian and black students. In the end it was mostly about communication problems. PGN: Let’s jump into some random questions. What’s your main flaw? AH: I’m a big-picture guy, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, I have trouble connecting the logistical things with those big ideas. PGN: Any phobias? AH: I’m homophobic ... Just joking! I don’t watch a lot of scary movies. I get freaked out by ghoulish-looking things. PGN: Which of Snow White’s seven dwarves describes you best and why? AH: Bashful. I can get shy sometimes. PGN: If you were handed free opera tickets, would you go or sell them? AH: I would so go to the opera. I just took a really good music class and opera is cool! PGN: A sentimental item you wouldn’t sell for $1,000? AH: I love music and I keep it all on hard drive on my computer, so I wouldn’t sell that. I’m really into music production and I make my own music and mixes. I like being creative and I also have a book where I scribble all my ideas. PGN: If you could go on a road trip with any three people, dead or alive, who would you take? AH: Martin Luther King Jr., Lady Gaga and Dorian Corey from “Paris is Burning.”

PGN: Would you rather travel to the future or go back in time? AH: I’d go back in time. There are a lot of awesome people I’d like to meet and hang out with. That way I could also be like, “Hey Dr. King, I’m thinking you might want to stay out of Memphis tomorrow.” PGN: If you were on “America’s Got Talent,” what would you do? AH: I just started a band called “Cat Nipple” and we’d do a pop-art performance. PGN: What’s the funniest story your mother tells about you? AH: I love animals and I used to play with ants. I’d pick them up and let one crawl on my hand or face. We also had this huge vicious-looking dog on our block and I loved it: I’d go look at it and was fascinated by it. I have a blue-nose pitbull who’s living with my cousin right now and he’s my baby. We’ve had cats — I’m a huge cat person — and a turtle and a Guinea pig. PGN: If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be? AH: Poverty. Money is something that humans have created and it’s gotten out of control. There’s so much fear attached, whether it’s a corporation fearing they’ll lose it so they lay off people or use up the earth’s resources in a quest for it or use cheap materials that end up killing someone, or the person who breaks the law to feed their family. Poverty connects to so many different things big and small. I say we get rid of it. ■ To suggest a community member for “Family Portrait,” email portraits05@aol.com.

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Classifieds PGN does not accept advertising that is unlawful, false, misleading, harmful, threatening, abusive, invasive of another’s privacy, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful or racially or otherwise objectionable, including without limitation material of any kind or nature that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, provincial, national or international law or regulation, or encourage the use of controlled substances. All real-estate advertising is subject to Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and ﬁnancing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability). PGN will not knowingly accept any real-estate advertising that is in violation of any applicable law.

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1909 Pt. Breeze Ave: beaut. renov. top to bottom. New roof, plumbing, elec., A/C, tile bath. 3 BR, 1 BA. Must see. $119,900. _______________________________36-24 1915 Pt. Breeze Ave. Beaut. renov. top to bottom. New roof, plumbing, elec., A/C, tile bath. 3 BR, 1.5 BA. Must see. $123,000. _______________________________36-24 2049 Fernon St. New home, 2 BR, HWF, A/C. Must see. $109,000. _______________________________36-24 Big lot, 6351 Old York Rd. $19,000. _______________________________36-24 Call 267-334-0744 for all properties. _______________________________36-24 WATERFRONT PROPERTY SALE NY: 8 acres waterfront home $99,900. 5 acres West Bass Pond $19,900. 5 acres Deer Creek Forest $14,900. Financing available. www. LandFirstNY.com 1-888-683-2626. _______________________________36-24 NY Land & Cabin Bargain Sale: Classic Adirondack Camp 5 acres - $29,995. Cozy Cabin-Base Camp 5 acres - $19,995. Near 1000’s of acres of Stateland, lakes, & rivers. Access to snowmobile & ATV trails. Our best deal ever! Call 800-229-7843. See pics at www. landandcamps.com _______________________________36-24 Potter County: 17 wooded acres adjoining state forest lands. Great hunting in area, close to ﬁshing streams. Perc, electric. $72,900. Owner ﬁnancing. 800-668-8679. _______________________________36-24

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. _______________________________36-32

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

Home of the Week

Featured property: 2462 Emerald St, Philadelphia, PA 19125

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Historic 200 year old Chester County home nestled high above the West Branch of the Brandywine Creek on a beautiful 3 acre parcel of land. Walk down to your own trout stocked section of the Brandywine Creek and enjoy a great day of fishing, or just sitting on the rocks and listening to the relaxing sound of the creek. This property borders the Chester County 890 acre Hibernia Park, which includes the 90 acre Chambers Lake. The park features hiking & biking trails, lake & stream fishing, picnic pavilions, volleyball courts, amphitheatre, camping areas, and the Hibernia Mansion which is host to numerous social events throughout the year. The original 1820 stone home has been enhanced with a 1730 log cabin. The stone and log sections are joined by a German clapboard “hyphen” section. Enjoy the interior coziness of this historic retreat by sitting next to one of the two wood burning stoves, and paging through one of the several books in which this home has been featured. Step outside onto the brick patio and take in the sites, sounds, and smells of the finest country living that Chester County has to offer. The expansive lawn offers plenty of area for fun & games, or just relaxing. Leyland Cypress and natural hardwoods offer plenty of privacy from the other historic homes in this unique Wagontown neighborhood. The three well-maintained outbuildings provide ample storage for all of your country living needs. The insulated “barn” has electric and heat, and can be used as a garage, shop, fitness room, or basement. The “garden shed” has electric, and the storage shed has plenty of room for all of your outdoor “toys”. The three outbuildings share a paved driveway and are situated in a courtyard fashion, bordered by a rustic stone wall. This home is truly unique in the fact that, while featuring the rustic historic aspects of country living, the interior has been upgraded with all of the modern necessities. Propane forced air heat and central air conditioning create a comfortable atmosphere in every season. Generous lighting throughout allows you to see the quaintness in all areas of this home. Two modern bathrooms feature double vanities with granite tops, tiled shower/bath, ceiling heat/ventilation, and refinished random width wood floors. The built-in range, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, china cabinet, and Boos Block storage butcher block all remain with the kitchen. The high efficiency Maytag washer & dryer also remain with the house. The fresh paint and rustic random width floors throughout complete the true interior charm of this home. The septic system was replaced in February of 2012, and the well was replaced in 2009. All system/appliance documentation is available and will remain with the house. Be a part of history! Come and experience this truly unique offering!

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Find out more at: http://www.phillymetrohometours.com/web/tour/ show/video/unbranded/1096 or email: gwarnecker@msn.com

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

SALES REPRESENTATIVE WANTED

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Open House Sunday June 17, 2012 Noon-2:30PM 1007 S Fairhill Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 Brand new construction 3BR/2.5BA townhouse in the Queen Village area $400,000 The Lenox Condominiums 250 S. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Condos from $175,000 Rentals from $1,800/mo 2115 Carpenter St A, Philadelphia, PA 19146 2BR/2BA townhouse condo $325,000 Search all Philadelphia area listings @ www.thephillyrealtors.com

PGN currently has an advertising sales position available for an energetic, self-motivated individual with outstanding communication skills. Our ideal candidate must have polished sales skills with experience in lead generation and cold calling, combined with a track record of closing the sale. QUALIFICATIONS:

• Two years of successful sales experience, preferably in print and/or online sales • Strong verbal and writing skills • Excellent at relationship building • Ability to work independently and part of a team • Knowledge of local media market and/or LGBT community a plus • Computer literacy a must

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Qualiﬁed individuals interested in applying are encouraged to send their resume to dan@epgn.com.

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REAL ESTATE

RENT

12TH & DICKINSON AREA Furnished Townhouse for rent: 3 levels. Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, 2 bedrooms, bath. Very Unique. 1500. mo plus util. (negotiable). Call 215 468-9166 after 6 pm. or 215 686 3431 daytime. _______________________________36-25 RITTENHOUSE SQUARE AREA Studios & 1 Bedrooms - Call for Availability (215) 735-8050 _______________________________36-30 HOUSE FOR RENT IN NEARBY ARTISTIC ARDEN, DE. Historic home on large, landscaped garden exudes European character and Arden charm. 3 Brm, 3 ﬁreplaces, screened porch, 5 minutes from I-95 and 5 minutes from train to Philly, 15 minutes from the airport. $1600/mo. Furnished/unfurnished (949)-497-2653 or jselecky@cox.net. _______________________________36-24 HADDON TWP, NJ Safe, sunny 2 BR apt. 2nd ﬂ owner occ. duplex. 1000 sq.. ft., A/C, D/W, W/D, new carpet & paint. Pvt. ent. Close to speedline, bus, walk, bike to shops, parks, lakes, library. $900/mo. Call Brian, 12 PM-7 PM, 856-858-8620. _______________________________36-27

VACATION

RENTALS 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 _______________________________36-24 MARGATE 2 BR, 1 BA apts. avail. 1st: $10,000 for Jul/Aug or $5000/mo. Other $4900/mo. Across from the beach, W/D, furnished. Fabulous! Call 276-746-0678 or 609-287-1973. _______________________________36-25

WANTED

TO BUY WANTED UNEXPIRED DIABETIC TEST STRIPS Up to $26.00/Box. PRE-PAID SHIPPING LABELS. Hablamo Espanol. 1-800-266-0702 www.selldiabeticstrips.com _______________________________36-24

ADOPTION ADOPTION A childless, ﬁnancially secure couple (37&42) seeks to adopt. Together 18 years. Flexible work schedules. Expenses paid. Call Rich & Tim 1-800-494-4533. _______________________________36-24

PGN’S COMMUNITY MARKETPLACE

FOR SALE SAWMILLS From only $3997-MAKE & SAVE MONEY with your own bandmill- Cut lumber any dimension. In stock ready to ship. FREE Info/DVD: www.NorwoodSawmills.com 1-800-578-1363 Ext.300N. _______________________________36-24 Bundle & Save on your CABLE, INTERNET PHONE & MORE. High Speed Internet starting at less than $20/mo. CALL NOW! 1-800314-9361. _______________________________36-24

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HELP WANTED LIVE-WORK-PARTY-PLAY! Play in Vegas, Hang in LA, Jet to New York! Hiring 18-24 girls/guys. $400-$800 wkly. Paid expenses. Signing Bonus. Call 1-866251-0768. _______________________________36-24 Out of High School? Over 18? Your 1st Phenomenal Opportunity to Travel While Earning Big $$$. No Experience Necessary. Paid Training. Transportation/Lodging Provided. 1-877-646-5050. _______________________________36-24 Drivers: New Freight lanes in your area. Annual Salary $45K to $60K. Flexible hometime. Modern Fleet of trucks. CDL-A, 3-months current OTR experience. 800-414-9569 www. driveknight.com _______________________________36-24 Company Drivers: $2500 Sign-On Bonus! Super Service is hiring solo and team drivers. Great Benefits Package. CDL-A required. Students welcome. Call 888-441-9358 or apply online at www.superservicellc.com _______________________________36-24 AVERITT Is looking for CDL-A Drivers! Great, Low-cost Benefits Package and Weekly Hometime. 4-Months T/T Experience Required. Apply Now! 888-362-8608 Visit AVERITTcareers. com Equal Opportunity Employer. _______________________________36-24 NEW TO TRUCKING? Your new career starts now! *$0 Tuition Cost *No Credit Check *Great Pay & Benefits. Short employment commitment required. Call: (866)447-0377 www.joinCRST.com _______________________________36-24 Exp. Reefer Drivers: GREAT PAY /Freight lanes from Presque Isle, ME, Boston-Lehigh, PA. 800-277-0212 or primeinc.com _______________________________36-24 CDL-A DRIVERS NEEDED! Up to $5,000 Sign-On Bonus for Experienced Drivers! New student pay AND Lease Program Now Available! 877-521-5775 www. USATruck.jobs _______________________________36-24

SERVICES EARN COLLEGE DEGREE ONLINE *Medical, *Business, *Criminal Justice. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified. SCHEV Certified. Call 888-220-3984. www.CenturaOnline.com _______________________________36-24 AIRLINE CAREERS Begin here-Become an Aviation Maintenance Tech. FAA approved training. Financial aid if qualified-Housing available. Job placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 888-834-9715 _______________________________36-24

PGN LEGAL NOTICE Pursuant to §128.85 of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Title 7 regulations, GROWMARK FS, LLC. hereby gives notice of ground application of “Restricted Use Pesticides” for the protection of agricultural crops in municipalities in Pennsylvania during the next 45 days. Residents of contiguous property to our application sites should contact your local GROWMARK FS, LLC. facility for additional information. Concerned Citizens should contact: Michael Layton, MGR. Safety & Environment, mlayton@growmarkfs.com GROWMARK FS, LLC. 308 N.E. Front Street, Milford, DE 19963. Call 302-422-3002. _______________________________36-24

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 15-21, 2012

PGN