pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Vol. 42 No. 25 June 22-28, 2018
Gov. Wolf vows to veto bill that could nullify local LGBTprotection ordinances PAGE 2
Family Portrait: Tia Sharpe has the power to survive PAGE 25
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Suicide-prevention network seeking LGBT data
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Krasner supports transparency in Morris case
Police: Inmate who killed three gay men dead of suicide
By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com
By Adriana Fraser adriana@epgn.com State police confirmed the death of the murderer of three gay men as a suicide after he was found unresponsive in his cell at a state-corrections facility in Frackville June 15. Trooper David Beohm, a state police spokesperson, confirmed the suicide of Arnold Mulholland to PGN following an investigation. “The death was ruled a suicide. We investigate all our incidents thoroughly. In doing so, we are assured that we have the right conclusion,” Beohm said. He declined to disclose how Mulholland killed himself. Mulholland was serving three consecutive life sentences at SCI Mahanoy State Correctional Institution. He pled guilty to first-degree murder in 1990 in the killings of Tracy Griffin, Alexander Munchweiler and David Johnson. Mulholland claimed he killed his first victim, Griffin, because Griffin raped his then-girlfriend. The girlfriend denied any rape in her statement to police, telling them instead that Mulholland killed Griffin. PGN reported in May 1989 that Mulholland was arrested the same month as a suspect in Griffin’s murder. He was subsequently charged with murder, robbery, theft, receiving stolen property and possession of instruments of crime. He then was suspected of being connected to the murders of the two other men. PAGE 9
Radical lesbian feminists plan to take over the world using queer pornography in “The Misandrists” PAGE 22
PENCE-IVE PROTESTERS: Members of the LGBT community, including several flag-bearers from Whosoever MCC, gathered with nearly 1,000 people rallying in protest of Vice President Pence’s appearance at a fundraiser June 20 at Rittenhouse Square. A number of Latinx speakers derided the administration’s program of separating immigrant children from their families during the hourslong event that included musicians, organized and spontaneous chants and a march around Rittenhouse Square. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Catholic agency seeks injunction in LGBT foster-care dispute By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Attorneys for Catholic Social Services urged a federal judge this week to issue a preliminary injunction that would halt the city’s freeze on foster-child referrals to CSS that went into effect March 15, because CSS won’t accept same-sex couples as foster parents. On June 18 and 19, U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker heard a total of eight hours of testimony about the dispute. CSS attorneys insist “needy children and foster parents across Philadelphia” would suffer “irreparable harm” if Tucker doesn’t issue an injunction. More testimony was scheduled for June 21. The city has about 6,000 foster-care children in its custody and contracts with 30 agencies to provide foster services. CSS provides services for 107 children. In May, CSS filed suit against the city, alleging state and federal violations of
CSS’ free-speech and religious-freedom rights. On June 7, CSS requested a preliminary injunction to halt the city’s referral freeze. CSS is represented by Becket, a D.C.-based law firm specializing in religious-freedom cases. On June 19, during a preliminary-injunction hearing, CSS Secretary James Amato testified that the agency would will end its foster-care program within the next several months if the city’s referral freeze isn’t lifted. He said about a dozen CSS workers will lose their jobs. He emphasized that CSS cannot accept same-sex couples as foster parents because of CSS’ religious beliefs regarding marriage. He also said city officials expressed disagreement with those beliefs when they discussed the foster-care dispute with him. For the period of July 1, 2017, to April 30, 2018, the city paid CSS $1.68 million for providing foster-care services, according to city records. But Amato said CSS subsidized the program PAGE 15 to the tune of $3.8
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner met with trans attorney Julie Chovanes for an hour last week and expressed support for transparency in the Nizah Morris homicide case. PGN was present during the meeting, which was mainly off the record. Chovanes, executive director of Trans Help Inc., filed a state Right-to-Know Law request in April for all Morris records at the District Attorney’s Office. The law allows citizens to request public records from agencies. “So far, I am extremely encouraged by District Attorney Krasner’s approach,” Chovanes told PGN after the meeting. “He has shown an excellent grasp of the issues involved. He’s also acknowledged a need to recognize the victim’s family’s — and the public’s — right to know all we can about this horrific incident.” Morris was a transgender woman found by a passerby with a fatal head wound 15 years ago, shortly after the victim received a “courtesy ride” from Philadelphia police. Her homicide remains unsolved. After the June 13 meeting, Ben Waxman, a spokesperson for Krasner, said: “We are committed to achieving justice for all victims and NIZAH MORRIS hope to be as transparent as possible in this case. Beyond that, we don’t have any public comment at this time.” Babette Josephs, chair of the Justice for Nizah (J4N) committee and a longtime Pennsylvania state representative, didn’t attend the meeting, but praised Krasner for supporting transparency. “Larry Krasner has always shown himself to be a man of integrity,” said Josephs. “I’m not surprised he’s expressing support for transparency in the Morris case. Nizah’s family and friends — along with the general public — deserve to know what happened to her. If Mr. Krasner can help bring us closer to that goal, we should all be grateful.” The full extent of the D.A.’s holdings in the Morris case remains publicly unknown. It also remains to be seen whether Krasner will decide to release all Morris records given the existence of statutes limiting public access to records relating to a criminal investigation. The incident took place during the PAGE 9