PGN Sept. 28 - Oct. 4, 2012

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2012

Family Portrait: Brian Morrison

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Xxx The best of Gay Philly as chosen by YOU, the readers PAGE 29 Sept. 28 - Oct. 4, 2012

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Vol. 36 No. 39

Gender markers dropped for new voter IDs By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com

SIGN ME UP: Antoine Gibbs (center) signed up to receive the Black Gay Men’s Leadership Council online newsletter Sept. 25 at BGMLC’s networking and happyhour event at Ladder 51. About 100 people attended the social, which was meant to reinforce a unified voice and leadership presence in the Philadelphia area. Photo:

Center commended for board commitment, strategies By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com William Way LGBT Community Center last week received an award that paid tribute to the organization’s board members and their contributions. The Philadelphia Foundation selected the center as one of two recipients of its H. Craig Lewis Good Governance Award, which is joined by a $5,000 prize. The award is given to agencies that exemplify the best of the best in nonprofit management — extending to board leadership, financial planning and strategic thinking. Thirty organizations applied for the award, and eight were selected as finalists, with the foundation’s grantmaking committee ultimately deciding on the center and the Maternity Care Coalition. “We are delighted to honor these worthy nonprofits,” said foundation president R. Andrew Swinney. “Both of these organizations exhibited the most comprehensive board-development strategies, self-assessments, organizational evaluation and planning. Other organizations in the region would do well to emulate the governance examples they set.”

In an unprecedented step announced this week, Pennsylvania’s new state-issued voter identification card will not include a gender marker. The revelation was made Tuesday during a Commonwealth Court hearing on the contentious new law, which would require voters to present a valid government ID each time they vote. At the hearing, which was held to examine the process by which the state would issue voter-ID cards for those who currently lack an eligible ID, Kurt Meyers, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said the state plans to ease restrictions, including the lifting of the gender designation. Voters will also not need to present proof of residence to obtain the card. David Rosenblum, Mazzoni Center legal director who, with Equality Pennsylvania executive director Ted Martin, issued a letter to Secretary of Commonwealth Carol

Aichele calling for attention to the transgender-related issues surrounding voter ID, said the move is groundbreaking. “To my knowledge, this if the first time the state has ever issued an ID where gender doesn’t matter,” Rosenblum said. While the card will be marked for “voting-purposes only,” Rosenblum said its significance cannot be overlooked. “If a transgender person goes to a bar, the bouncer is not going to look at the ID and turn them away because the card is for voting. This will be a government-issued ID card with your name and your picture. It’s a way for transgender people to have an ID card and not have to worry about it having an inconsistent gender.” Rosenblum said he was “stunned” that the change was made so quietly, with little fanfare. Sara Mullen, associate director of American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania — which is spearheading the legal challenge of the law — also welcomed the change. “We are happy this PAGE 21

OutFest to honor leaders, introduce new award By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION PRESIDENT R. ANDREW SWINNEY (FROM LEFT), WILLIAM WAY BOARD CO-CHAIR THE HON. ANN BUTCHART, FORMER PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION BOARD MEMBER H. CRAIG LEWIS AND FOUNDATION BOARD CHAIR LAWRENCE J. BEASER AT THE SEPT. 20 PRESENTATION OF THE LEWIS AWARD Photo: Mark Garvin/The Philadelphia Foundation

The center’s board is comprised of 15 members. The Philadelphia Foundation referenced the breadth and diversity of the board membership, its board-training program and board-succession plan — which it crafted in June to assist the agency in the PAGE 20 event of the departure of

Every year at OutFest, organizers bestow awards for community leadership. The Oct. 7 festivities will honor a new group of leaders, as well as mark the inauguration of a new award. Franny Price, president of Philly Pride Presents, which stages OutFest, said the organization seeks to highlight those who have been positive, influential figures in the LGBT and ally community. “We look for people who help educate or make the community more aware,” Price said. This year, OutFest will present a new award, OutProud Family, to Mia and Tracy Levesque and their daughter Josephine. The Levesques run YIKES, Inc., a webdesign firm on East Girard Avenue. PAGE 2 “In the last five years,

MIA AND TRACY LEVESQUE AND DAUGHTER JOSEPHINE


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PGN Sept. 28 - Oct. 4, 2012 by The Philadelphia Gay News - Issuu