LGBT Counseling has new options
Family Portrait: Sarah Morrison helps homeless youth PAGE 29
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The PPD has a new GOAL
It’s a Full House at the Skybox at Adrienne PAGE 25
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FBI hate-crime stats show gaps PAGE 5
Nov. 20-26, 2015
Since 1976
PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Vol. 39 No. 47
Assault victim sues nightclub
Philly couple recounts tragedy in Paris By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Nicholas D. Forte, a South Philadelphia gay man who was brutally assaulted outside Voyeur Nightclub, filed suit Nov. 5 against the popular night spot. Around 2 a.m. Nov. 10, 2013, Forte was assaulted by Miguel Maldonado and Matthew Morris outside Voyeur, located at 1221 St. James St. in the Gayborhood. Both were found guilty of aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person in February. Forte’s injuries included a broken eye socket, a broken nose, a broken rib and multiple facial fractures. According to court records, some o f Fo r t e ’s injuries are permanent. His medical expensesexceed $100,000. Forte contends the men targeted him because he’s gay. “Upon information and belief, [Forte’s] assault was motivated by his sexual orientation,” his suit states. However, Philadelphia police refused to classify the incident as a hate crime. Additionally, Forte contends Maldonado and Morris were served alcohol at Voyeur prior to assaulting him, even though they were visibly intoxicated. Maldonado was employed as a bouncer at Voyeur at the time of the incident. “Alcohol was improperly supplied to [Morris and Maldonado] and consumed by them while in a visibly intoxicated state,” Forte’s PAGE 21 suit states.
GOOD SPORTS: Stonewall Sports Philadelphia commissioner and founder Adam Beck (left) presented a $1,000 check to AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania executive director Ronda Goldfein at Stonewall Prom, Nov. 13 at FieldHouse. About 200 people turned out for the event, at which the LGBT sports group distributed $30,000 in funding to local LGBT and HIV/AIDS agencies. In addition to the law project, the organization supported Mazzoni Center, William Way LGBT Community Center, The Attic Youth Center, GALAEI and Philadelphia FIGHT. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Trans man sues MontCo supermarket By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com The trouble started for Sam Melrath when he cut his hair. When the trans man from Northeast Philadelphia revealed a close crop during a fall 2013 shift at the Giant Food Store in Huntingdon Valley, his manager pulled him aside. Melrath thought his manager would compliment the new look. Instead, she said it would create a problem because customers “might mistake [him] for a man.” “She said, ‘That’s not how we do things here,’” Melrath told PGN this week. About two months later, Melrath said his manager informed him that the uniform policy had changed. Instead of everyone wearing the same shirts, men would wear collared shirts and women would wear low-cut T-shirts that Melrath said showed cleavage. “I knew I would feel uncomfortable,” he said. “I was scared because I thought I wouldn’t get another job. Giant’s a big corporation. If they can’t accept me, will anybody?” Melrath filed a discrimination claim Nov. 11 in U.S. District Court against the grocery chain. Samantha Krepps, a Giant spokesperson, told PGN that the company’s policies “strictly prohibit discrimination of any kind, including based on gender identity, and we note that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has dismissed this complaint based upon its own investigation. We PAGE 21
When they arrived in Paris last Thursday morning, Philly attorney Angela Giampolo was excited to show her girlfriend, psychotherapist Kristina Furia, around the City of Light: It was Giampolo’s 12th visit to the French capital, and Furia’s first. But, a day later, their vacation was upended by the worst terrorist attack to hit France in decades. On Friday night, 129 people were killed in six coordinated shootings and bombings throughout Paris. ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attacks. The couple, who are both PGN columnists, was dining at a restaurant in the Seventh Arrondisement when the attacks began. They were about 1.5 miles from The Bataclan concert hall, where the majority of the devastation took place; 89 people were killed there. The couple said they began to hear a buzz throughout the restaurant that “something” had happened. At first, the diners, whom they noted are accustomed to frequent bomb threats in the city, didn’t seem concerned. The women were speaking with the owner of the restaurant when their phones began buzzing with news alerts about the attacks and, soon after, Facebook messages from family and friends asking about their safety. The atmosphere at the restaurant quickly became frantic, they said, and word spread that people were urged to return to their hotels and homes. “The owner was very sweet as everyone in the restaurant started to learn about the attacks,” Giampolo said. “She put us in an Uber with a bottle of wine and huge hugs and kisses.” After navigating through heavy traffic, they arrived at Hotel Napoleon, a small, family-owned hotel near the Arc de Triumph
A VIGIL OUTSIDE THE CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME SUNDAY NIGHT Photo: Kristina Furia
where they were staying. They had to be let in the front doors, which were locked behind them. The couple spent the rest of the night watching the news in the lobby. “A lot of people had headphones in and were streaming the news while others were taking phone calls informing people that they were safe,” they said about the atmosphere in the hotel. “The lobby suddenly became a highend bunker; even though theoretically everyone could have gone up to their rooms, I think we all just craved a bit of community and maybe even safety in numbers in that first night. There was a lot of fear and a really somber tone.” Giampolo and Furia spent time connecting with loved ones back home through social media. They both took advantage of Facebook’s activation of its safety-check-in feature, which allowed them to notify everyone on each of their respective friends lists that they were safe. Giampolo noted that the emergence of social media distinguished the immediate aftermath PAGE 21