Family Portrait: Jim Sutton blossoms at work PAGE 33
“Gloria Casarez Way” gets a clean sweep by council
Holiday offerings for the table, from the tap and at the theater PAGE 25
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Two stabbed on St. James St. PAGE 2
Dec. 11-17, 2015
Since 1976
PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Vol. 39 No. 50
Gay-bashing trial begins By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The trial opened this week for the lone defendant who remains in last year’s gay-bashing case. Kathryn Knott and her attorney, Louis Busico, were back in court Wednesday morning to begin the jury-selection process. The trial was expected to begin Thursday. Assistant District Attorney Mike Barry is handling the case for the city. Knott is charged with two counts each of aggravated and simple assault, as well as conspiracy and reckless endangerment in connection with the Sept. 11, 2014, attack on Zachary Hesse and Andrew Haught in Center City. Knott’s co-defendants, Kevin Harrigan and Philip Williams, accepted plea deals offered by the District Attorney’s office that include probation, but no jail time. The prosecutor in the case said Knott was offered a similar deal, but she rejected it,
opting instead to take her case to trial. One charge of aggravated assault without serious bodily injury is a felony that is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and simple assault is a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison. The night of the incident, Knott, Harrigan and Williams were walking with a large group of friends when they encountered Hesse and Haught. Harrigan said to Hesse, “Who is that? Your fucking boyfriend?” and went on to call him a “dirty faggot,” Barry told the court at this fall’s sentencing hearing. Barry said Harrigan then pushed Hesse, Hesse pushed back and Harrigan punched him in the face. Barry said Hesse’s arms were pinned to his side and he was struck multiple times. Williams physically assaulted Haught multiple times, and Knott allegedly attempted to swing at the men but missed, also using homophobic language, Barry said. Haught was left with facial fractures and had his jaw wired shut for two months. n
A PERFECT 10: Olympic gold medalist diver and HIV/AIDS activist Greg Louganis gave an emotional speech at the Loews Hotel Dec. 3 as he accepted a lifetime-achievement award from Philadelphia FIGHT. Louganis was the guest of honor at FIGHT’s 25th-anniversary gala. Many in the sold-out crowd of 400 were moved to tears as Louganis read a letter he penned to his 16-year-old self about his journey of self-acceptance. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Family sues PA school for daughter’s harassment
Alleged policebrutality victim seeks new trial
By Paige Cooperstein paige@epgn.com
By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epn.com Luis A. Berrios 3d says he was brutalized by Philadelphia police during a domestic disturbance five years ago, and he’s requesting a new trial to hold the officers accountable. In 2010, Berrios and his then-lover allegedly were subjected to excessive force by Philadelphia police, who were inside Berrios’ Hunting Park apartment to quell a domestic spat. According to Berrios, once the officers realized the men were lovers, they became violent, hurled anti-LGBT slurs at them and arrested them on bogus charges. Officer Michael Gentile permanently injured Berios’ right arm while arresting him, and Officer Robert Tavarez facilitated the excessive force as a bystander, according to Berrios. PAGE 19
HOLIDAY HIGH NOTE: Members of the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus performed holiday classics with some unique twists at their “Bells, Brass & The Boys” concert Dec. 4 at Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion. The first half of the show featured New Jersey youth organization Impulse Handbell Ensemble and the second included the premiere of an original work. PGMC will host auditions from 6-8 p.m. Dec. 16 at the church, 2111 Sansom St. Photo: Scott A. Drake
After more than five years of alleged anti-LGBT bullying, a local family is suing their daughter’s former school district. R u s s e l l a n d Ta m m y B i t t e n b e n d e r fi l e d a c o m plaint Dec. 4 in federal court in Philadelphia against the Bangor Area School District for failing to adequately address the alleged sexual harassment and physical assault. The district is about a half-hour northeast of Bethlehem. The suit alleges the bullying began in third grade, when the Bittenbenders’ daughter was 9, and created a “hostile environment” that caused “her to ultimately consider killing herself.” Classmates and older students told the girl, “Lesbian, why don’t you go hang yourself?” and told
others, “If you hang around with her, you’ll catch lesbian diseases from her,” according to the suit. “I do not have much to say at this point because I have not yet talked in detail about the situation to the administration, nor have I discussed it with the school board,” Donald F. Spry, solicitor for Bangor schools, wrote in an email to PGN. Spry added that the board is not scheduled to meet this month. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for February, with Judge Lawrence F. Stengel presiding. The district will be represented by John E. Freund 3d. The suit seeks at least $150,000 in damages, which is the threshold necessary to ask for a jury trial in federal court, according to Jason Schiffer, the Bittenbenders’ attorney. “What we’d PAGE 13