Two fab new shows on Logo PAGE 29
Vote for the Best of LGBT Philadelphia PAGE 23
Family Portrait: Scott Barnes has it all together
IBA seeking first ED
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Aug. 7-13, 2015
Since 1976
PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Vol. 39 No. 32
PA judge issues historic common-law marriage ruling
Gay man’s pursuit of benefits given boost By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Last week, Joseph A. Hallman received a glimmer of hope that he’ll eventually receive the proceeds of his former domestic partner’s life-insurance policies. Hallman and Stephen T. Gallagher were domestic partners for about four years, before parting ways in 2009. Gallagher, who was employed at the University of Pennsylvania as a computer specialist, died in May 2011 after a lengthy illness. For the past four years, Hallman, 35, has pursued Gallagher’s life-insurance benefits, totaling about $354,000. But Gallagher’s mother, Joann P. Gallagher, contends she’s entitled to the benefits. Last year, Philadelphia Orphans’ Court Judge John W. Herron ruled that Hallman failed to prove he was the beneficiary for Gallagher’s life-insurance policies. As a result, the proceeds should go to Joann Gallagher by default, according to Herron’s ruling. But Hallman appealed in state Superior Court and in a 21-page opinion issued last week, the court remanded the case back to Herron for further consideration. There is no paper copy of a form signed by Gallagher designating Hallman as the beneficiary of his life-insurance policies. At issue is the accuracy of electronic data indicating Gallaghermade such a designation. The Superior Court said Herron may have been too dismissive of the electronic data indicating Hallman’s status as Gallagher’s life-insurance beneficiary. “[T]he absence of a paper form signed by [Gallagher], naming [Hallman] as primary beneficiary, is not automatically fatal to [Hallman’s] case,” the court noted. The facts of the case should be fully developed and carefully scrutinized before a final determination is made, the court added. Additionally, the court stated the insurer, Aetna Inc., acted properly by withholding the disputed funds from Hallman while the matter is adjudicated. Barry F. Penn, an attorney for Hallman, said his client is entitled PAGE 15
By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
DOWN IN DELAWARE: New York City Country-Western dance group the Manhattan Prairie Dogs were among the performers who took the stage at Delaware Pride, Aug. 1 at Legislative Hall in Dover. The event was cohosted by Brie Daniels and Jayden Storm and featured drag entertainers, musicians, dancers and more, as well as community and merchant vendors. Photo: Scott A. Drake
White House updates HIV/AIDS strategy By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The Obama administration last week released the first update to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The plan was first unveiled in 2010 with a five-year outlook. Last week’s update includes plans for up to 2020. It aims to reduce new infections by at least 25 percent, with a refocused attention on populations disproportionately affected by the disease, such as men who have sex with men. The four goals of the plan remain unchanged: to reduce new HIV infections; increase access to care and improve health outcomes for people living with HIV; reduce HIV-related disparities and health inequities; and achieve a more coordinated national response to the epidemic. Those goals are organized under the vision that the plan will help the nation “become a place where new HIV infections are rare, and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or socio-economic circumstance,
will have unfettered access to high-quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination.” The strategy calls for a multifaceted approach to that aim, including integrated and patient-centered HIV and STI screening, with expanded access to PrEP and PEP. It proposes a focus on linking people to care immediately after a diagnosis, increasing the capacity and diversity of health providers and addressing co-occurring conditions and challenges, such as housing. To advance federal collaboration, the plan calls for streamlined grantee-reporting requirements and enhanced program accountability. To reduce disparities, the strategy urges expanded services to gay and bisexual men, especially young black men, black women and Southern residents. According to the plan, more than 50 percent of new HIV diagnoses in 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, were in the South. The Northeast made up about 19 percent of new diagnoses, followed by the West and Midwest. In a statement, AIDS Healthcare Foundation applauded the new focus on PAGE 15 the South, but expressed
In what is thought to be the first decision of its kind in the nation, a judge in Bucks County issued a ruling last week allowing retroactive recognition of a same-sex common-law marriage. The decision came in the case of Doylestown resident Dr. Sabrina Maurer, who filed a petition for a retroactive declaration of a common-law marriage after she was forced to pay inheritance tax and was denied other spousal benefits following the death of her partner, Dr. Kimberly Underwood. The couple had been together since 1996, and was joined in a religious ceremony in 2001, before any state legalized same-sex marriage. Underwood died in 2013, six months before Pennsylvania began allowing marriage PAGE 15
PLAY BALL!: Members of the Philadelphia Voices of Pride readied to head onto the field of Citizens Bank Park July 30 to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Phillies’ Gay Community Night. The 13th-annual game started a three-game winning streak for the Phillies, who nearly swept their series against the Atlanta Braves, and raised the team’s LGBT Night record to 3-10. The event raises funds for the Sean Halpin Memorial Scholarship, given to a local LGBT law student. Photo: Kirsten Schaney