pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Vol. 41 No. 30 July 28 - Aug. 3, 2017
Family Portrait: Tony Lantz takes us around the world and home to U Bar PAGE 29
The battle of being gay and Republican
PAGE 5
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Three PA students awarded LGBT scholarships
PAGE 8
Trump suggests ban on trans military members
Former administrator at vets’ home claims antigay bias
By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com
By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Michael J. Semian, a former top administrator at the Gino J. Merli Veterans’ Center in Scranton, recently filed a federal antibias lawsuit, claiming that homophobia contributed to his firing. The center, which encompasses four city blocks in downtown Scranton, houses about 196 veterans and their eligible spouses. Scranton is in northeastern Pennsylvania, about 125 miles north of Philadelphia. From June 2010 to October 2015, Semian served as “commandant” of the Merli Center. His employer was the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which is a named defendant. According to Semian’s lawsuit, he was a “scapegoat” for the center’s negative evaluations by state health authorities. During Semian’s tenure, the center was repeatedly cited for health and safety violations, including deficient patient care and inadequate record keeping. However, Semian asserts in his suit that problems at the center were due to staffing shortages and other challenges that he reported to his superiors, to no avail. In 2014, according to Semian’s suit, he proposed a new nursing organizational structure, but his superiors failed to act on his proposal. In addition to sexual-orientation discrimination, Semian’s suit alleges a violation of the state Whistleblower’s Law. He’s seeking an unspecified amount in PAGE 17 compensatory
LGBT-friendly youthhousing facility in limbo PAGE 9
THE RESISTANCE: Several-dozen activists blocked traffic on Chestnut Street July 21 to protest a visit to Philadelphia by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was in town to speak with law-enforcement officials at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sessions focused his address on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and decried sanctuary cities, like Philadelphia. Protestors outside blasted Sessions and the Trump administration on issues including immigration, mass incarceration and police brutality. Photo: Scott A. Drake
N.J. Gov. Christie signs two trans-inclusive bills By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed two trans-inclusive bills last week, which would develop guidelines for transgender students and prevent medical providers from discriminating based on gender identity. Due to travel arrangements, Christie was not immediately available for comment. SB 3067 “requires the Commissioner of Education to develop guidelines for school districts regarding transgender students.” The guidelines will provide methods to address the needs of transgender students while ensuring a nondiscriminatory environment in schools. The commissioner would be required to provide guidance and information on aspects such as confidenti-
ality, proper pronoun usage, school records, restroom and locker room use, the formation of LGBT-affirming programs and clubs and other transgender-specific guidelines. Additionally, the bill directs the commissioner to update the guidelines as needed and to provide programs and training for school officials on LGBT issues. “This is a huge victory for equality in New Jersey, and we want to send a big thank you to Gov. Christie for standing on the right side of history on this one,” said Garden State Equality Executive Director Christian Fuscarino in a statement. “As he did with the conversion-therapy ban, Gov. Christie took a stand for LGBT youth in New Jersey by signing this important legislation, and he deserves our thanks.”
The second measure, A4568, “prohibits health insurers, [State Health Benefit Program], [School Employees’ Health Benefits Program], certain health-care providers and Medicaid from discriminating in providing coverage and services based on gender identity.” It would prevent health-insurance companies from charging higher premiums, referring to trans identities as a “pre-existing condition” and from covering transition-related care. In a separate statement, Fuscarino thanked Christie and said the bill signing was a “tremendous victory.” However, he noted one shortcoming. “Unfortunately, this will not affect the self-funded marketplace,” Fuscarino said. “So there is still work to be done.” n
President Donald Trump issued a series of tweets Wednesday suggesting a ban on transgender people serving in the military. “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” he tweeted. “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender [sic] in the military would entail. Thank you.” Joshua Block, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT & HIV Project, noted in a statement that “there are no cost or military readiness drawbacks associated with allowing trans people to fight for their country.” Block said ACLU is looking at ways to combat efforts to roll back a policy that went into effect last year allowing open service by trans military members. Earlier this summer, the Pentagon delayed a rule allowing enlistments by trans military members, which was set to go into effect July 1. “Transgender people have been serving openly and equally in the U.S. military for over a year,” noted University of Pennsylvania law professor Tobias Wolf. “They served in silence for decades before that. They are as patriotic, dedicated and capable as any member of the Armed Forces. They have suffered, bled and died for this country. And now they are the latest targets of a flailing and failed president who uses Twitter to make policy based on his last conversation and uses insults to bully senators from his own party and humiliate his own Attorney General. This is not governance. This is cynicism, ugliness and chaos. Enough.” Joanne Carroll, a transgender Pennsylvania woman who served 20 years in the Air Force, retiring as a master sergeant, added that Trump pledged to be a “friend” to the LGBT community, yet “day in and day out he has systematically done everything he can to disprove that. Just when transgender people were starting to PAGE 16