Cubist clubbist
Family Portrait: Rev. Nate Walker PAGE 23
Locals react to SCOTUS decisions
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June 28 - July 4, 2013
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Vol. 37 No. 26
Supreme victories on Day of Decision By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
Marriage equality saw its greatest victory to date Wednesday with the defeat of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. The federal ban on same-sex marriage was overturned in a highly anticipated 5-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. A separate ruling cleared the way for marriage equality in California. Neither ruling established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The DOMA opinion rather found that the section of the law that denies federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married violates the constitutional equal-protection clause. The opinion, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, held that the law is “invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and injure those whom the state, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.” Kennedy went on to say that DOMA
sought to displace this protection and treat same-sex couples as “less respected” than others. “Under DOMA, same-sex married couples have their lives burdened, by reason of government decree, in visible and public ways.” Kennedy was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Dissenting were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia, with Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting in part. With the defeat of DOMA’s Section 3, married same-sex couples will now have access to federal benefits such as joint tax filings, Family and Medical Leave Act benefits and Social Security survivor rights. The ruling will also be felt in the immigration realm, as Americans will be eligible to sponsor a foreign-born same-sex spouse for citizenship. However, some federal agencies, such as the IRS and Social Security Administration, grant marriage benefits based on a couple’s state of residence, while others grant rights
Lesbians attacked in DelCo By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com A lesbian couple was ejected from a Delaware County fast-food eatery last week for allegedly having sex in the bathroom, and was then attacked by a group of patrons. The June 19 incident took place at a McDonald’s on 69th Street in Upper Darby. Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said a group of diners complained to a manager that two women had entered the one-person bathroom on the second floor of the store and were having sex. The manager entered and allegedly found the two engaging in a sex act and ordered them to leave. Chitwood said the women, who told police they were not having sex, complied but were verbally harassed by the group that had complained to the manager as they left. “They said the group was telling them to ‘get out of here, dirty dykes,’” Chitwood said. “And that’s when the fight started.” The altercation moved outside, and one
of the women was stabbed in the back after coming to the aid of her partner. There were between six and eight attackers, mixed men and women. The stabber, Chitwood said, is believed to be a Hispanic or African-American woman in her 40s who had two children with her. The weapon was a black-handled silver blade. The group dispersed before police arrived and no suspects have been apprehended. The victim was transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and has been treated and released. The other woman was not seriously injured, Chitwood said, and refused medical treatment. The women identified themselves as an engaged couple to police. Chitwood said the incident is not currently being investigated as a hate crime. “We’re not getting the cooperation we should be getting,” he said. “But we’ll see as the investigation goes on.” Chitwood said there were surveillance cameras nearby but “we haven’t been able to retrieve it yet because of incompatibility of various technologies. So we’re working on that.” ■
based on the state of celebration, or where the marriage was conferred; it is yet unclear what steps the administration will take to ensure equal access to federal rights for married couples who do not live in a marriage-equality state. The DOMA case was brought by 84-year-old Edie Windsor, a Philadelphia native, who was forced to pay more than $300,000 in inheritance tax after the death of her longtime partner, to whom she was legally married. In a statement Wednesday, President Obama applauded the ruling. “This was discrimination enshrined in law,” he said. “It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it.” Obama said he directed the Attorney General’s office and his Cabinet members to review all relevant federal statutes to ensure that the decision is reflected in federal law “swiftly and smoothly.” AG E r i c H o l d e r s a i d t h e Department of Justice will work “expeditiously” with other branches to implement the decision. The momentous ruling was released minutes before another 54 ruling, written by Roberts, that the petitioners in the California Proposition 8 case lacked standing. In that case, state officials declined PAGE 7 to defend Prop.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Independence Mall played host to about 150 LGBTs and allies Wednesday night who turned out to rally for marriage equality after the historic U.S. Supreme Court rulings that morning. Speakers included Delaware Valley Americans United for Separation of Church and State founder Janice Rael (pictured), the Rev. Jeffrey Jordan, Philadelphia’s director of LGBT affairs Gloria Casarez, Philadelphia Family Pride vice-chair Wendy Forbes, Philadelphia Human Relations Commission executive director Rue Landau and SafeGuards director Brian Green. Supporters carried signs, chanted pro-LGBT messages and spoke to the sea of mainstream media on hand. For more coverage and photos, see p 6-7. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Victims of the night: Stories from the streets By Victoria A. Brownworth Special to PGN Second in a series Two names regularly bring forth tears and anger in the Philadelphia LGBT community: Nizah Morris and Stacey Blahnik. The deaths of both women have gone unsolved, years later. But their names are among a disturbingly long list of transgender women of color who have either died under mysterious circumstances like
Morris or been brutally murdered like Blahnik. Mo’Nique says she met Blahnik, a leader in the Philadelphia ballroom community and by all accounts a remarkable woman, a few months before her October 2010 murder. Mo’Nique, who named herself after the Oscar-winning actress, said Blahnik’s murder “broke my heart. Just broke it. I looked up to her. I wanted to do all the things she did for everybody.” Mo’Nique looks away when she talks PAGE 12 about Blahnik, her