pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Vol. 40 No. 34 Aug. 19-25, 2016
Out former MLB player Billy Bean to throw out pitch at Phils’ first Pride Night PAGE 5
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Eyebrows raised over new book PAGE 27
Musician convicted in sex case PAGE 7
Stop-animation brings genderless story to life
Nikki López returns to GALAEI as executive director
Wilkes-Barre moves to protect LGBT residents By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com Dee Culp was volunteering last year with the Rainbow Alliance to rejuvenate the human-relations commission in Scranton the first time she heard about a similar body existing in Wilkes-Barre, where she lives. “We found out the committee had sort of disbanded,” she told PGN. “If we want protections in this town, someone’s going to have to get the ball rolling on it.” Culp contacted Tony Brooks, who was running for Wilkes-Barre City Council at the time. Brooks, who ran unsuccessfully for Philadelphia City Council as a closeted man in 1991, has since become the first openly gay councilman in Wilkes-Barre. He’s also the first Republican elected since 1983. Brooks introduced Culp to Beth Gilbert, a young Democrat who was also running for the Wilkes-Barre council. “After meeting at a political event, she emailed me Pittston’s and Scranton’s ordinances,” Gilbert said. “Pittston’s was more modern, inclusive and vetted, so we used that as a model.” When she took office earlier this year, Gilbert crafted an ordinance that would extend nondiscrimination protections to LGBT residents in employment, housing and public accommodations. It also calls for city council to appoint seven to 15 representatives to the human-relations commission. Wilkes-Barre had a commission to hear discrimination complaints at least since the 1980s, but no one was appointed to the board. The ordinance unanimously passed its first reading this month. A final vote will take place Sept. 15. “I’m very excited, but at the same time very nervous,” Culp said, noting Brooks’ mother tried to get a similar nondiscrimination ordinance passed in 1994. It passed the first reading, but not the final vote. “In 22 years, nothing’s been done about it. That’s a long time to wait.” “We need to have this,” she added. “It basically gives us a legal leg to stand on against discrimination.” Brooks was on vacation in the mountains this week and unavailable for comment. He was one of the earliest supporters of the ordinance, and Gilbert said she’s optimistic about the current ordinance because all five members of council approved its first reading.“Hopefully history doesn’t repeat itself,” Gilbert said. “The vast majority of residents have been very supportive.” Gilbert, who grew up in Wilkes-Barre, said if the ordinance passes she would consider asking council to adopt a resolution calling on the state to pass an LGBTinclusive nondiscrimination law. “We can do as much as we can on the local level, but state law has a little more grip,” she said. n
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By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com
LIFE AND LIBERTY: An 11-day motorcycle ride to raise money for HIV/AIDS research concluded at Liberty Place in Philadelphia last week, with a $150,000 check presentation to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, and $5,000 to Philadelphia FIGHT. The Kiehl’s LifeRide took 12 participants — including actors, sports professionals, the president of Kiehl’s and the CEO of amfAR — through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and on to Philly, with stops at Kiehl’s stores along the route. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Nikki López, a former youth coordinator with GALAEI: A Queer Latin@ Social Justice Organization, will take the reins as the group’s executive director starting the first week of September.
Kathleen Kane out as AG By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com Kathleen Kane, who started her term as Pennsylvania attorney general in 2013 by refusing to defend the state’s ban on samesex marriage, resigned this week. Kane announced her decision after receiving convictions on all nine counts against her for perjury and other offenses stemming from a grand-jury leak to a reporter that prosecutors allege she performed to embarrass a rival. She was the first woman and the first Democrat to serve as attorney general. First Deputy Attorney General Bruce L. Castor Jr., a Republican, will lead the office in Kane’s absence. Kane has maintained her innocence. She lost her law license last year due to the charges and did not seek re-election. Her sentencing will take place Oct. 24. John Stapleton, one of the attorneys who
worked on the Pennsylvania case for marriage equality, told PGN this week that Kane’s stance on marriage “had no effect on the ultimate outcome of the case, but it certainly was an event that brought further publicity to the case and the issue at hand.” For the state’s top law-enforcement official, voters will choose this fall between Josh Shapiro, the Democratic chairman of the Montgomery County commissioners, and John C. Rafferty Jr., a Republican state senator from Montgomery County. Both candidates spoke with PGN before the primary elections in the spring. Kane had said her charges in relation to the grand-jury leak were retaliation for her decision to expose men who had sent homophobic and other offensive emails on state computers. Referring to the emails, Rafferty said they “were inappropriate in any forum and that type of behavior will not be tolerated under my leadership.” Shapiro said he would appoint a chief diversity officer, as well as use the office as a “megaphone” to advocate for expanded hate-crime and nondiscrimination legislation. n
“I’m elated to bring forward my commitment, passion and creativity in continuing to serve the LGBTQ and Latinx community of Philadelphia,” López said in a statement. She added a rousing call to continue the social progress: “¡Pa’lante Sigue, Sigue Pa’lante!” Rafael Alvarez Febo, president of GALAEI’s board, told PGN that López helped the organization develop its strategic plan and revamp its mission in 2013 and 2014. Lopez started with GALAEI around 2011. “Nikki was integral in us forming our mission around social justice,” Febo said. “She helped us figure out what is our intersection as Latinx people with PAGE 6 being LGBT