pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Vol. 41 No. 46 Nov. 17-23, 2017
“Destroyed” Morris record uncovered PAGE 2
PGN editor Jen Colletta gets send-off from staff PAGE 5
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM Family Portrait: For Joshua “TJ” Bunch, every day is a circus PAGE 27
PGN Pet Issue
PAGES 14-21
Mazzoni concludes Winn investigation, names new board officers By Jeremy Rodriguez jeremy@epgn.com
REVISITING THE PAST: John Cunningham (left) and Heshie Zinman, the founders of the Philadelphia AIDS Library, looked back on the organization’s 30 years at an anniversary celebration Nov. 10 at William Way LGBT Community Center. In addition to marking the library’s milestone, the event served as the kickoff to “Still Fighting for Our Lives,” an exhibit culled from the library’s archives. The display will be available for public viewing in the center’s library through 2018. Photo: Scott A. Drake
N.J. urges dismissal of trans birth-certificate case By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com New Jersey officials continue to urge a federal judge to dismiss the case of a trans woman who seeks a gender-accurate birth certificate without undergoing gender-confirmation surgery. “Jane Doe,” a trans woman born in New Jersey, requests a birth certificate that accurately reflects her gender. However, in a Nov. 6 filing, New Jersey officials insist Doe’s male birth certificate is accurate. New Jersey officials currently require proof of gender-confirmation surgery prior to issuing a trans person a revised birth certificate with a different gender. State officials contend that issuing Doe a female birth certificate before she undergoes gender-confirmation surgery would open the door to fraud and identity theft. “Surely, ensuring accurate records and combating fraud and identity theft are important governmental interests,” attorneys wrote in the defense filing. The 42-page filing calls on U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp to dismiss Doe’s
case as meritless. Doe filed suit last year, alleging that requiring surgery for a gender-accurate birth certificate is discriminatory and violates her constitutional rights. The defendants are state registrar Vincent T. Arrisi and state health commissioner Cathleen D. Bennett, along with the agencies they head: the New Jersey Office of Vital Statistics and the New Jersey Department of Health, respectively. The defendants’ request for dismissal also notes that 20 states require gender-confirmation surgery prior to issuing a revised birth certificate. Idaho, Kansas, Tennessee and Ohio don’t permit any birth-certificate revisions, even after gender-confirmation surgery, according to the request for dismissal. Neither side had a comment for this story. “As this involves continuing litigation, we have no comment,” said Leeland Moore, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. As of presstime, the dismissal request remained pending with Shipp. n
The Mazzoni Center issued a statement Nov. 13 regarding a number of recent organizational developments, namely the conclusion of an investigation into its former medical director. Dr. Robert Winn resigned in April as medical director after becoming the target of allegations of sexual impropriety with patients. Weeks later, former CEO Nurit Shein departed her post after Mazzoni employees hosted a walkout protesting Shein’s alleged coverup of the Winn allegations. The Mazzoni statement noted that a
third-party independent investigation of the allegations against Winn was recently completed and handed over to the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine. The board will address the issue moving forward. “Because of the sensitive nature of the patient information included in this report, we are not at liberty to share it publicly,” the statement read. “We know that this may be dissatisfying to some people; but we are hopeful that, as a community, we can continue our march forward and advance Mazzoni Center’s mission as a safe, welcoming place, where high-quality, comprehensive health and wellness services are provided in an LGBTQ-focused and supPAGE 12 portive environment that
Gay-bashing civil suit settled By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The victims of a high-profile 2014 gay-bashing incident this week settled their civil suit against the three defendants. Zachary Hesse and Andrew Haught filed the suit against Kathryn Knott, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams in May 2016, seeking more than $500,000 in damages. Judge Denis Cohen signed off on the settlement Nov. 6, about a month before the case was set to go to trial. Details of the settlement were not immediately available. An attorney for the plaintiffs declined to comment. The three defendants were involved in a September 2014 attack on Hesse and Haught at 16th and Chancellor streets that left the couple badly injured. Harrigan and Williams took plea deals that allowed them to avoid potential jail time but Knott took her case to trial and was convicted of four misdemeanor charges. She ultimately served five months in prison. “The charges in the criminal trial were about the punishment of the defendants’ actions under criminal [law],” Andrew Youman, attorney for the couple, told PGN last year. “The D.A. brought those charges. The civil system is about compensation, and
that’s what this case is about: compensation for everything they have been through as a result of the conduct of the defendants.” The counts against Harrigan were assault and battery against Hesse and assault against Haught. Knott faced a charge of assault and battery for her interaction with Hesse and assault for Haught. The suit charged Williams with assault and battery for Haught and assault for Hesse. All three
faced a count of negligent infliction of emotional stress for each victim, and restatement of torts for each victim. The suit reiterated details of the incident Haught and Hesse relayed on the stand during Knott’s trial in December 2015. The couple said they were walking in Center City when they encountered the trio and a PAGE 12 group of their friends.