Family Portrait: Jason Landau Goodman is leading the youth charge PAGE 29
Ideas for getting away this weekend (or this fall) PAGE 25
Casarez mural painting kicks off for OutFest-planned dedication PAGE 5
Gay bashers update PAGE 2
Sept. 25 - Oct. 1, 2015
Since 1976
PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Vol. 39 No. 39
Getting out and about papal weekend By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The weekend that many in the city have been looking forward to (many with trepidation) is finally upon us. If you’re staying local or hitting the road, check out some of the LGBT-related activities happening in the region this weekend.
Staycation If you’re hunkering down and riding out PopeFest (aka Popeapalooza, Popepocalypse) in Philly and want to get into the spirit, but avoid the pontificating, check out these LGBT-focused events. Through Sept. 25, 95 North Productions is staging “Full of Grace: Journeys of PAGE 8 LGBT Catholics” at
TURNING BACK TIME: About 75 people twisted and shouted Saturday night at William Way LGBT Community Center for the first-ever LGBTQ Senior Prom. Organized by the LGBT Elder Initiative, the center and Jewish Family and Children’s Services, the event gave LGBT older adults the opportunity to revisit their youth in a safe and accepting environment. The center’s ballroom was transformed into a dance hall, with rainbow banners adorning the wall and music from 1960s, ’70s and ’80s by DJ Sandi Stabler. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Mazzoni, ACLU back appeal in SEPTA case By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Mazzoni Center and the ACLU of Pennsylvania are requesting permission to file a statement in favor of overturning a recent court ruling exempting SEPTA from adherence to the city’s antibias rules. In August, the state Commonwealth Court ruled that SEPTA is a state agency, thus it doesn’t have to abide by the city’s LGBT-inclusive antibias rules. Instead, SEPTA must abide by the state’s antibias rules, which aren’t LGBT-inclusive, according to the ruling. SEPTA has about 9,000 workers and more than 600,000 riders daily in Philadelphia, four nearby counties and parts of New Jersey and Delaware. City officials disagree with Commonwealth Court’s ruling and are asking the state Supreme Court to review it. Mazzoni and the ACLU want permission to file a statement in support of the city’s position. “Local nondiscrimination ordinances are the only legal protection that LGBT
citizens of Pennsylvania have for their jobs, homes and dignity and this will be so until the passage of a state- or nationwide nondiscrimination law,” asserts a Sept. 17 request by Mazzoni and the ACLU. The request adds: “Pennsylvania’s municipalities have been the leaders in development of evolving standards of fairness and equality. To leave intact the lower court’s holding would not only curtail Philadelphia’s authority, it would also reverse more than 30 years of protection for people who are not explicitly protected by state law. The Commonwealth Court should not have turned back the clock on protection from discrimination.” Andrew A. Chirls, an attorney for Mazzoni and ACLU, said SEPTA should abide by the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance, which is LGBT-inclusive. “If the Commonwealth Court’s decision stands, riders and employees of SEPTA who want to have remedies for discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity will have no place to go,” Chirls said in an email. “And the Commonwealth PAGE 20
EQUALLY BLESSED, A COALITION OF LGBT-AFFIRMING CATHOLIC GROUPS, KICKED OFF ITS WEEK OF WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES ACTIVITIES SEPT. 22 AT ARCH STREET UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Photo: Scott A. Drake
Jersey City to offer trans health benefits Jersey City will become the first municipality in the Garden State to offer transgender-specific health care to city employees. The announcement was made by Mayor Steven Fulop in a press conference Tuesday. The city’s health-care plan will be expanded to include coverage for transgender medical care and procedures, including gender-reassignment surgery. “Government has a responsibility to be a legitimizing force, to pull people in the direction of what is right, especially on LGBT issues,” Fulop said in a statement. “We’re making sure our transgender neighbors get the care they need.”
Outgoing Garden State Equality director Andrea Bowen welcomed the news, saying the city is “doing what every municipality in New Jersey must do: provide medically necessary transition-related care to its employees. Jersey City is leading the way in showing how to improve the lives of transgender people. Garden State Equality is honored to have worked with Mayor Fulop and his staff on this great reform.” Jersey City was the only city in the state to have received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign for the past two years. n — Jen Colletta