Fall Preview Issue
Family Portrait: Craig Peterson
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A Gayborhood history blog that brings the past into the present
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Aug. 31 - Sept. 6, 2012
Vol. 36 No. 35
Fire at gay bathhouse
Conviction in antigay attack By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com A man accused of assaulting his gay neighbor in the spring was convicted last week on some of the charges he faced. Municipal Court Judge Bradley Moss on Aug. 20 found Michael Marko guilty of making terroristic threats and simple assault. He sentenced him to six-months’ reporting probation. Marko was accused of pushing Ed Unay April 8 and attempting to strike him with a griddle pan. Unay said Marko, who lived on the same block in Fishtown, had confronted him in the past and repeatedly used antigay slurs during the April incident. Unay said he believed Marko targeted him because he is gay. Hate-crimes charges weren’t filed, as the state hate-crimes law doesn’t cover sexual orientation. Marko was found not guilty of possession of an instrument of crime and reckless endangerment. Unay said he had mixed feelings about the outcome. “I’m not too happy with it,” he said. “I think he should have gotten a longer probation — I don’t think six months was enough. But at the same time, we won.” Unay contacted the Philadelphia Police Liaison Committee for support, and secretary Rick Lombardo was present during the process. Unay said that, since the incident, he has been having panic attacks, and he and his partner have since moved out of the house. “It’s been really tough adjusting,” he said. “I’m fearful to go to work and am always cautious about my surroundings now.” Marko was previously arrested for drug offenses, harassment, terroristic threats, assault, reckless endangerment and possessing an instrument of crime. ■
By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
SINGING THEIR PRAISES: The Philly Phanatic hammed it up with members of the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Choir before the start of the Phillies’ Aug. 28 game at Citizens Bank Park. Several-dozen members of the PGMC sang the National Anthem to kick off Gay Community Night, which celebrated its 10th anniversary. The team ultimately fell to the Mets 9-5 in the 10th inning, bringing the record for the LGBT event to a lopsided 1-9. More photos, page 7. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Trans collective gets grant for prison work By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com A Philadelphia group that unites transgender and gender-variant people living both inside and outside of prison walls got a vote of confidence — and a financial boost — from a local social-justice agency. Bread & Roses Community Fund awarded Hearts on a Wire Collective a
Gayborhood bathhouse Club Body Center is closed until further notice after a fire damaged the establishment last week. Fire officials received a report of a fire at 12:35 a.m. Aug. 23 and arrived at the scene, 1220 Chancellor St., four minutes later. Fire Department Executive Chief Richard Davison said the fire was on the first floor of the four-story building and was concentrated in one room. The blaze was brought under control by 12:57 a.m. No injuries were reported. Club Body Center, a men’s bathhouse, has been in operation since 1975 and moved from 13th Street into its current location in 1995. The building previously served as Back Street Baths from 198186 and then the Chancellor Athletic Club before CBC took over. Chris Srnicek, who plans to buy the PAGE 14 property from its cur-
$2,000 grant as part of its Phoebus Criminal Justice Initiative, a donor-advised fund launched in 2000 that also awarded grants to 11 other area groups working on criminal-justice causes. Hearts on a Wire was founded in 2007, when a group of trans and gender-variant people came together to send Valentine’s Day cards to T/GV people who were in prisons. From that initial gathering, a conPAGE 2 versation was sparked
Pa. Congressional candidate backs marriage By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com A Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania last week came out in favor of marriage equality. Matthew Cartwright,
who is running for the 17th District seat in Northeastern Pennsylvania, told The Times Leader last week that he changed his position on same-sex marriage. “I just kept thinking it over in my mind and I
didn’t see a good reason to discriminate against a substantial population of American citizens,” he told the publication. Cartwright last month told the Leader that he is “old-fashioned” and didn’t support full marriage rights for same-sex
couples but cautioned that he was still thinking about the issue. Cartwright, an attorney, defeated longtime U.S. Rep. Tim Holden in the spring primary and will face Republican challenger Laureen PAGE 16
CLUB BODY CENTER DEBRIS, CAMAC STREET Photo: Scott A. Drake