Philadelphia Gay News June 19 - 25, 2009
Honesty Integrity Professionalism
Vol. 33 No. 25
Obama extends benefits to LGBT federal employees By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer
NEW DEM, NEW TO PRIDE: U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (D) made his first visit to Philadelphia’s annual Pride celebration during the June 14 festival at Penn’s Landing. PGN publisher Mark Segal introduced Specter, a former Republican who this spring announced he was switching parties to become a Democrat, as a surprise guest during the event. The festival and parade drew a crowd of between 9,000-10,000 people, the highest attendance at the event in 10 years. Photo: Scott A. Drake
President Obama signed a presidential memorandum June 17 granting samesex partners of federal employees access to some of the same benefits enjoyed by heterosexual married spouses. The president’s directive applied to employees in both civil- and foreign-service positions. John Berry, openly gay director of the Office of Personnel Management, said Wednesday that the directive does not include health benefits because the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which bans samesex marriage at the federal level, would prohibit such a change. The memo, which differs from an executive order in that it will expire at the end of Obama’s term, allows for the samesex partners of civil-service employees to be eligible for long-term-care insurance programs, and for the employees to use sick leave to take care of a domestic partner or non-biological, non-adopted children. Same-sex partners of foreign-service
employees will now be able to use medical facilities at their partners’ posts, qualify for medical evacuation from the posts, and will be included in family size when housing allocations are determined. The personnel changes do not apply to military employees, as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s ban on openly gay servicemembers, would prevent the implementation of such policies. Berry called the changes “the first step, not the final step” in guaranteeing equal rights for LGBT federal employees. “This is an attempt to get our federal house in order, which is very important to do,” Berry said. “It’s an example of practicing before you preach, and the president is taking bold action to do just that.” Leonard Hirsch, chair of the Federal GLOBE, which represents LGBT federal employees, called the memo “a significant next step toward equal rights for LGBT employees in the federal government.” Hirsch said the president’s directive provides for benefits “to the extent that he
Pride draws largest crowd in 10 years Justice Dept. calls for dismissal By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer
Although plans for last weekend’s Pride parade and festival were still up in the air just days before the festivities, the 21st annual event kicked off without a hitch and drew the largest crowd of the past decade. Franny Price, executive director of Philly Pride Presents, which organizes the celebration, estimated that between 9,000 and 10,000 people gathered for the parade and the festival at Penn’s Landing, far surpassing last year’s count of 6,000. Price said that while the entertainment lineup may have fueled the high turnout this year, the weather probably also played a role. Temperatures at last year’s celebration topped out near 100 degrees, but on Sunday — after several days of rainstorms — the sky was clear with temps in the high 70s. “The weather was beautiful, and I think people had cabin fever and were glad to get out,” she said. Just four days before the event, the outlook was not so sunny as organizers met with city officials to negotiate what the city was planning to charge Philly Pride Presents for police presence — a cost the city previously covered but, late last year, discontinued because of its budget crisis.
One of the stipulations of the eventual price agreement shortened the parade route by several blocks, cutting out the parade’s traditional procession past longtime LGBT bookstore Giovanni’s Room at 12th and Pine, which Price said was unfortunate, but it turned out to be a successful move. “I actually like this route better. I’m the biggest advocate for passing Giovanni’s Room, but this way there were more people lined up watching the parade, which was good for the morale of the people in the parade,” she said. “There were just rows and rows of people. And a lot of people in the parade and watching the parade came up to me and said, ‘I really like this way, please keep this.’” More than 30 organizations participated in the parade, which stretched more than a mile from 13th and Locust, past the judges at the reviewing stand at Sixth and Market and down to Penn’s Landing. Openly lesbian ABC 6 news reporter Denise James served as this year’s parade announcer. The contingent from Tavern on Camac took home the grand-prize Fruit Bowl from the parade and also won the Best Bar Float prize. Other winners included Mazzoni Center for Best Float; Woody’s/
See OBAMA, Page 7
of first federal marriage suit By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer
A federal agency moved last week to dismiss the first lawsuit filed against the federal ban on same-sex marriage. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion June 11 to dismiss a suit by a married same-sex couple from California, Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, who argued that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act violates their federal rights to privacy, travel and free expression. Congress approved DOMA in 1996, a law that prohibits the extension of federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples. In last week’s brief, the Department of Justice acknowledged that Smelt and Hammer were legally married in California, but said they were not entitled to any other recognition on account of DOMA. “This case does not call upon the court to pass judgment ... on the legal or moral right of same-sex couples to be married,” the motion states. “Plaintiffs are married and their challenge to DOMA poses a different set of questions: whether by virtue of their See PRIDE, Page 8 marital status they are constitutionally
entitled to acknowledgment of their union by states that do not recognize same-sex marriage, and whether they are similarly entitled to certain federal benefits. Under the law binding on this court, the answer to these questions must be no.” Shin Inouye, White House LGBT spokesperson, said the department is required to support current law. “As it generally does with existing statutes, the Justice Department is defending the law on the books in court,” Inouye said. Smelt and Hammer married in California in July, during the five-month period when such unions were legal, prior to the passage of Proposition 8, a ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in the state. The couple filed the suit in state court in December, one month after Prop. 8 passed, and the case moved to federal court in March. Also last week, California Attorney Gen. Jerry Brown filed a brief in support of another federal lawsuit, submitted by two California couples who tried to obtain marriage licenses after the passage of Prop. See MARRIAGE SUIT, Page 17