pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Day to End Violence set to illuminate trans sex-workers’ plight
Vol. 42 No. 50 Dec. 14-20, 2018
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Family Portrait: Chad Harp offers hope for the holidays
2018 holiday gift ideas
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Man turns himself in after allegedly assaulting lesbian By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com A man turned himself in to authorities Dec. 10, three days after police issued a wanted alert for his arrest via social and news media. Shurland Millington was charged this week with simple assault and reckless endangerment stemming from a January 2018 incident with Ronnessa Edwards, who says she is the victim of a hate crime. Millington, 39, was released on his own recognizance Dec. 11 without having to pay any bail. His next court date is set for Jan. 10, according to court records. Last month, Edwards reached out to PGN, expressing concern that as a lesbian, she was victimized by a violent hate crime, yet her assailant hadn’t been arrested. “I’m grateful that once PGN started asking questions, the police took more action,” Edwards said this week. “Other victims whose justice is being delayed should consider going to media outlets to get the police to do their jobs.” In a Dec. 7 email, a Philadelphia police spokesperson said numerous attempts had been made to arrest Millington prior to
police issuing a wanted alert. “Since obtaining the arrest warrant [in April], detective personnel have made numerous attempts to apprehend Mr. Millington,” wrote Capt. Sekou Kinebrew. “In addition, the warrant information has been provided to various patrol and special patrol components within the [police] department, including the Highway Patrol Unit. These entities have also made multiple attempts to locate and apprehend Mr. Millington.” Ben Waxman, a spokesman for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, confirmed that a warrant for Millington’s arrest was approved in April. “Our office did approve an arrest warrant” for Millington on April 7, Waxman said. “Beyond that, this is still an active investigation and therefore I am unable to comment further.” Edwards, 36, an investigator with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, provided the following version of events leading up to the alleged assault: On Jan. 27, she attended a dance party at DeLink Social Club on the 4100 block of Germantown Avenue. Millington also was in attendance and allegedly punched Edwards twice — on the left and right sides of her face — after she took a sip from a bottle of water that she thought belonged to a relative. Millington “walked up to me and said something to the effect that it was his water,” Edwards told PGN. “I told him I could get him another bottle of water. The next thing I remember, he punched me twice in the face.” PAGE 13
PASSYUNK PARTY: Queers On The Avenue (QOTA) partied at Urban Jungle on Passyunk Avenue on Dec. 6, bringing more than 100 people to the landscaping center for holiday foods, Christmas spirits, Pin the Tail on the Reindeer and a DIY ornament craft table. Open to everyone, the QOTA parties continue regularly throughout 2019 and information can be found on Facebook under QOTA. Photo: Scott A. Drake
More moves at Mazzoni Center as board loses two members By Kristen Demilio editor@epgn.com Mazzoni Center’s board of directors has lost two more members, with the secretary recently ousted in a majority vote and a second member resigning Tuesday, PGN has learned. The departures from the board are the latest in an ongoing drain of institutional
memory from the beleaguered agency, the largest LGBT-focused health facility in the Philadelphia area. CEO Lydia Gonzalez Sciarrino resigned last month after just seven months on the job. COO Ron Powers also announced his departure at the same time after more than 20 years in the position. Both resignations are effective Dec. 28. The board of direcPAGE 13
Philadelphia comedian Kevin Hart in Oscars controversy By Victoria A. Brownworth PGN Contributor Philadelphia actor and comedian Kevin Hart was named to co-host the upcoming 91st annual Academy Awards, but within 48 hours withdrew after outcry over his past history of homophobic comedy routines and postings on social media. One such tweet, posted in 2011 reads, “Yo if my son comes home
& try’s 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay.’” The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, has not explained the vetting process in choosing the host, nor whether Hart’s prior comedy routines and social-media posts were reviewed before making the choice. Hart had long expressed his
desire to host the Oscars. When the Academy initially requested he delete past tweets, he began to do so on Dec. 6, the day after he was announced as host. Hart and the Academy had hoped to ride out the backlash. Hart put up a video on social media in which he said, “My team calls me, ‘Oh my God, Kevin, everyone’s upset by tweets you did years ago,’” he said in the video. “Guys, I’m
nearly 40 years old. If you don’t believe that people change, grow, evolve as they get older, I don’t know what to tell you. If you want to hold people in a position where they always have to justify the past, do you. I’m the wrong guy, man.” That apology only served to further inflame those angry with the comedian. As the controversy grew, and videos of Hart’s past routines with homophobic
content surfaced, the comedian finally withdrew as host. In a second video the same day as the first, Dec. 6, Hart said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had told him to issue a real apology or withdraw. Hart chose to withdraw. In the video, Hart said, “I chose to pass on the apology. The reason why I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times. This is not the first PAGE 17
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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
Resource listings Legal resources • ACLU of Pennsylvania: 215-592-1513; aclupa.org • AIDS Law Project of PA: 215-587-9377; aidslawpa.org • AIDS Law Project of South Jersey: 856-784-8532; aidslawsnj.org/ • Equality PA: equalitypa. org; 215-731-1447
• Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations — Rue Landau: 215-686-4670 • Philadelphia Police Liaison Committee: 215-7603686; ppd.lgbt@gmail.com • SPARC — Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition: 717-920-9537
• Office of LGBT Affairs — Amber Hikes: 215-686-0330; amber.hikes@phila.gov
Community centers • The Attic Youth Center; 255 S. 16th St.; 215-545-4331, atticyouthcenter.org. For LGBT and questioning youth and their friends and allies. • LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania; 3907 Spruce
St.; 215-898-5044, center@dolphin.upenn.edu.
• Rainbow Room: Bucks County’s LGBTQ and Allies Youth Center
Salem UCC Education Building, 181 E. Court St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981 ext. 9065, rainbowroom@ppbucks.org.
• William Way LGBT Community Center 1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220, www.waygay.org.
Health and HIV testing • Action Wellness: 1216 Arch St.; 215981-0088, actionwellness.org • AIDS Healthcare Foundation: 1211 Chestnut St. #405 215971-2804; HIVcare.org • AIDS Library: 1233 Locust St.; aidslibrary.org/ • AIDS Treatment Fact line: 800-6626080 • Bebashi-Transition to Hope: 1235
Spring Garden St.; 215769-3561; bebashi.org • COLOURS: coloursorganization.org, 215832-0100 • Congreso de Latinos Unidos; 216 W. Somerset St.; 215-7638870 • GALAEI: 149 W. Susquehanna Ave.; 267-457-3912, galaei. org. Spanish/English • Health Center No. 2: 1720 S. Broad St.; 215-685-1821
• Mazzoni Center: 1348 Bainbridge St.; 215-563-0652, mazzonicenter.org • Philadelphia FIGHT: 1233 Locust St.; 215-985-4448, fight.org • Washington West Project of Mazzoni Center: 1201 Locust St.; 215985-9206 • Transgender Health Action Coalition: 215-732-1207
Other • Independence Branch Library Barbara Gittings Gay and Lesbian Collection: 215-685-1633 • Independence Business Alliance; 215-557-0190, IndependenceBusinessAlliance.com
• LGBT Peer Counseling Services: 215-732-TALK • PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (Philadelphia): 215-572-1833 • Philly Pride Presents: 215-875-9288
Day to End Violence and dangers of sex work By Adriana Fraser adriana@epgn.com Is tonight the night I will be attacked? Will I make it through my shift alive? Will one of my clients try to kill me? These are thoughts that plague sex workers daily — especially trans sex workers — as violence against them becomes a growing concern in the LGBTQ community. Despite the ongoing fear, many sex workers see little choice but to continue. “Most of us have been kicked out of our homes, disowned by our families or have nowhere else to go,” said a local trans sex worker who goes by the name M. Damico and has spent the last four years working on Old York Road. “It’s not ideal and it’s dangerous, but we do what we have to do in order to survive. “I’ve had johns get violent with me if they didn’t want to pay and others who have pulled weapons out on me. I’ve known some girls who have gotten killed on the job,” Damico said. “It’s hard to not think about that stuff, but that’s the reality. While some [workers] are out there getting cash to feed some sort of addiction, most of us are out there trying to make a life for ourselves.” Damico said she and some of the other trans women who frequent the strip have limited opportunities for employment and can only provide for themselves through sex work. Damico, 31, found herself without any source of income or a place to live when she was kicked out of her house after coming out to her family about her transition. The Somerset, N.J., native relocated to the city to get a fresh start, but said she couldn’t find a steady job and found herself in and out of shelters. “I knew girls that worked on Old York Road and they seemed to get by with what they were making. At that point, that was my only option to getting back on track,” she said. Damico said she didn’t like putting herself at risk, but the lifestyle afforded her the funds needed to buy basic necessities such as food, clothing and beauty products. She said she was able to save up enough money to rent a room. The relatively easy money, Damico said, came at a price. Between January and November, the deaths of at least 26 sex workers were reported, according to the Sex Workers Education Advocacy Taskforce. In 2015, 29 percent of all U.S. sex worker homicide victims were trans women or femme-presenting gender-nonconforming individuals who were sex workers, according to a report by The Sex Workers Outreach Project — a national social-justice network that advocates for the rights of sex workers. The Human Rights Campaign reported that since 2008, more than 2,300 transgender and gender-diverse people have been killed worldwide, most of them under the age of 30.
In recognition of the plight of people like Damico, local LGBTQ friendly groups will participate in the 15th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers Dec. 17. Sex workers, advocates and allies will join together worldwide to memorialize those who have lost their lives doing sex work. In Philadelphia, the observance will feature a silent vigil at the Thomas Paine Plaza, 1401 JFK Blvd., from noon to 4 p.m. Separately, a discussion and presentation at PhilaMOCA will take place 7-10 p.m. The events will highlight stories of former and current sex workers. The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers was founded by Dr. Annie Sprinkle and the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA, an American sex-workers’ rights organization. The day originally served as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway, believed to have killed nearly 90 teenage girls and women in the 1980s and 1990s in the state of Washington. Ridgway was convicted of 49 of the murders, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in American history. Many, if not most, of his victims are believed to be sex workers.
The day originally served as a memorial and vigil for the victims of Gary Ridgway, believed to have killed nearly 90 teenage girls and women in the 1980s and 1990s in the state of Washington. A local sex worker who goes by the name Blaksyn said he hopes more people will participate this year to recognize that “sex work is valid work.” “I began this work to inform people about what sex work is beyond what they may see in the media. It’s not always the drug addict or homeless person that partakes in sex work,” he said. “I became a sex worker not only for the income, but to explore sexual liberation for people of color.” Blaksyn and other sex-worker advocates worldwide are calling for the decriminalization of sex work. He noted that decriminalized sex work can to lead to more protection for sex workers, a reduction in instances of STDs, sexual assault and violence as well as a decrease in human trafficking. Earlier this year, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner tweaked the city’s stance on prostitution, directing his assistant D.A.s to “not charge prostitution cases against sex workers where a person who has been arrested has two, one or no prostitution convictions,” he said in a February statement. n
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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
News & Opinion
10 — Creep of the Week Editorial 11 — Op-Ed Mark My Words Street Talk
Columns
6 — Family Forward: New parent identity 14 — Thinking Queerly: De-stressing the holidays
Arts & Culture
The Year In Review
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— Feature: Chee talks about writing — Family Portrait — Scene in Philly — Q Puzzle — Out & About — Comics
“We’re acknowledging the need for all of the pieces — both literally and figuratively — that go into being a trans person and what it takes to move through the world as a trans person.” ~ Blaise Davi, on Bebashi’s new Trans Closet, page 8
Dec. 21
We want to know!
Person of the Year & Favorite Photos
If you are announcing an engagement, wedding, adoption or other life event over the holidays, we would be happy to help you share it with the community. Send your contact information and a brief description of the event to editor@epgn.com.
Dec. 28
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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
MUSICAL INTERLUDES: Holiday concerts overlapped Dec. 9 when Philadelphia Freedom Band (left) and Anna Crusis Women’s Choir performed at the University of the Arts’ Caplan Recital Hall and Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion, respectively. The Freedom Band (philadelphiafreedomband.org) dished up a musical feast of songs by Jay Bocook, Aaron Copland, Clare Grundman and John Phillip Sousa and listed the songs under titles such as Antipasto, Primo, Secundo, Dolce to complete their musical allusion. Anna Crusis (annacrusis.org) gave a ‘Declaration of Interdependence’ with selections such as “With My Own Two Hands”, “Refugee” and “Shine ”— a song by and for the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. Photos: Scott A. Drake
Come Celebrate Christmas with Us in Germantown! CHRISTMAS EVE Monday December 24 4 PM caroling & 4:30 PM Mass 7 PM caroling & 7:30 PM Mass 11:30 PM caroling & 12 Midnight Mass
CHRISTMAS DAY Tuesday December 25 10 AM Mass
St Vincent de Paul Catholic Church 109 E. Price Street Philadelphia 19144 215-438-2925
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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
LOCAL PGN FAMILY
It’s the moments that make a parent I spent nearly 33 years of my life as a non-parent. It was just part of my identity — something that subtly guided how I moved through the world but that I rarely thought twice about, like my LGBT orientation, my right-handedness or my reliance on contact lenses. In an actual instant, though, that status changed and I was now a parent. Everyone talks about the “love-at-first-sight” feeling you have the first time you lay eyes on your child, and that certainly abounded as the doctors passed Jackson to me and Ashlee in the operating room. Getting used to actually being his parJen ent, however, has been anything but instantaneous. The first few days after Jackson was born, Ashlee and I were in an adrenaline- and caffeine-filled daze, going through the motions: Feed the baby, try to rock him to sleep, change the baby, try to rock him to sleep, feed the baby … The pace of the merry-go-round never slowed down, which I think made reality seem even harder to keep up with. Here was this little invader into our lives, whose belongings seemed to have shown up all over every inch of our house and whose lack of any semblance of a schedule had thrown our own very regimented schedules into disarray. We both felt like we were living in someone else’s lives because ours suddenly looked so different. All of that stemmed from the fact that we were now parents, but this new — and most important — aspect of our identities just seemed out of place for a while. It wasn’t until we started understanding Jackson’s seemingly nonsensical little self and building somewhat of a routine into the chaos that we were able to slow down that dizzying merry-goround just a tiny bit. From there, we began to actually appreciate the kaleidoscope of moments that we were building, each of which helped us grow into our own confidence and start to actually think of and see ourselves as parents. In the beginning, Jackson was largely a screaming, pooping timebomb; it was hard to imagine him realistically as anything but. The more time I spent with
him and got to differentiate this cry from that cry, glean his favorite positions in which to lie or even predict when a diaper change was needed, he began to change in my eyes. This hit me when Ashlee and I settled in to watch “Life of the Party” — the Melissa McCarthy comedy about the relationship between a mom and her college-aged daughter. Holy crap, Jackson’s going to go off to college one day, I thought, surprising myself with that less-than-obvious — but still jarring — realization. I’ve continued to see the future differently, Colletta moment by moment. After Jackson succeeded at going to the bathroom after a particularly challenging struggle — through which Ashlee and I goofily encouraged him, clapping when he succeeded — I ridiculously flashed forward in my mind to the pride I’m going to feel at all of his accomplishments years down the line. When I had to pull on the snaps of one of his preemie onesies to get it to close, I was struck by how quickly he was growing — and by how emotional that made me. The worry has also come moment by moment. Right after Jackson was born and we were still in the hospital, all Ashlee and I wanted to do was pull the covers over our heads and sleep. After he settled in at home, we’ve both crept out of bed countless times to bend over him and make sure he’s still breathing. When he was a few weeks old, on the way home from a doctor’s appointment, we pulled the car over to the side of the road when the backseat mirror slipped down a bit and we could no longer see his face — and of course illogically presumed he had stopped breathing. The first time he ran a slight fever of 99 degrees, we both cried. I was hit with tears one day when a commercial for Shriners Hospitals for Children came on. I realized how lucky we are that our little guy is healthy. And again, another time when he spit up through his nose and lapsed into a blood-curdling scream of pain. Little by little and moment by moment, our emotions have become intrinsically intertwined with his.
Family Forward
The more comfortable I’ve become with my identity as a parent, the more I see how skewed my own perception of my “future” parental self had been. This was painfully clear when he got his two-month vaccinations. Since Ashlee works in the medical field and is often the one delivering infant shots, she warned me how emotional parents can get. Pshhh, I thought — it’s fine. He cries all the time; I’m used to it. I was quite wrong. I tried soothing him on my lap when he started screaming in pain, but lost it myself when he turned his tearfilled little eyes toward me. I also scoffed at the many warnings I heard about how hard the first day of daycare would be; I only had a few days off from work when the baby was born — so I figured I’d be fine with the separation since I did it daily anyway. As we handed Jackson off to the daycare staff, both Ashlee and I welled up in involuntary tears and tried to awkwardly back out of the room. I used to think people who wept openly at cute baby videos on YouTube were
social media, I have found myself delighting in each and every milestone he reaches, no matter how seemingly small. He smiled for the first time (voluntarily!) on Oct. 12, sending Ashlee and I into a tizzy; that paled in comparison to his first laugh on Thanksgiving. We both screamed so loudly in joy that we scared him and he’ll probably never laugh again. This gradual easing into parent mode has also normalized
ridiculous — as were those who smiled at each baby they passed on the street; I reserved those emotions solely for cute dog videos and passing pups. I recently found myself shedding tears over a video of a soldier meeting his daughter for the first time after deployment, and later ashamedly cooing over my friend’s infant daughter’s cheeks. (I, of course, still do not trust anyone who doesn’t smile at dogs on the street.) I used to roll my eyes at parents who thought every movement their child made was precious and worthy of extensive documentation; while I still try not to overshare pictures of the baby on
moments I never would have expected. On Ashlee’s first day back to work after maternity leave, she raced home eager to see Jackson and hear how our days went. She came home to me giving him a bath, during which he decided to go number two on his cloth tub covering. Together we scooped that mess out while she told me all about the ups and downs of her return; a conversation that previously would have occurred over the dinner table with a celebratory bottle of wine had quite a different setting, but by this point, it seemed normal. During Jackson’s first trip to see the Macy’s Christmas light dis-
play, he started vomiting during the show and I quickly reached out and caught it in my hand; Ashlee handed me tissues and the show went on. Just the other night, the baby awoke with gas pains and, after rocking him for a few minutes, I lowered him back into his Rock ’n Play, stealthily keeping my hand on his head until he was deeply back asleep. That this 2 a.m. routine seemed perfectly par for the course illustrates to me how much more at ease I’ve gotten with the changes this whole parenting thing has ushered in. Another big realization came in late October, when we had to head to the Montgomery County Courthouse to make my second-parent adoption of Jackson official; though my name is listed on his birth certificate, experts advise same-sex couples to add another layer of legal protection to ensure the nonbiological parent’s rights are secured. Other families finalizing adoptions before the judge that day were dressed to the nines, snapping pictures alongside tons of family members. We looked sheepishly at one another because, to us, this just felt like some legal mumbo jumbo we had to deal with before we could get on with our day. Signing some extra paperwork was just unavoidable red tape, as we already both had grown accustomed to being Jackson’s parents. Four months doesn’t seem like a long time, but it’s filled with what feels like millions of moments. For those who have just welcomed a baby, some of those moments are joyful, others terrifying and most are challenging. But all fuse to become building blocks that help parents step into their new identity and face the future with confidence. n
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Bebashi Closet initiative provides support for transitioning By Adriana Fraser adriana@epgn.com Bebashi — Transition to Hope is aiming to be the city’s full-service, trans-specific resource center in the coming year. To that end, the nonprofit, which provides a bevy of culturally sensitive services for Philadelphians, is opening the Trans Necessities Closet pilot program to provide the trans community with free binders, prosthetics and other gender-affirming resources. For now, the Closet is available for Bebashi clients only, but organizers are planning to expand services and open them to the community, said Amanda Finnell, Bebashi’s director of development. “We’re looking to find an individual, organization or company to develop a strategic, long-term partnership with us and invest their resources into making this a broader reality for more Philadelphians,” she said. The program, which was announced last August, is the health and social-services agency’s solution to assisting transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals with transitioning, which is often not covered by insurance and can be pricey. The Closet was designed to help affirm trans-identifying individuals with an emphasis on “ensuring dignity, building confidence and keeping people safe,” said Blaise Davi, Bebashi’s assistant-prevention navigator.
“We’re acknowledging the need for all of the pieces — both literally and figuratively — that go into being a trans person and what it takes to move through the world as a trans person,” Davi said. “Our commitment with this initiative is not just to provide items of need, but to provide quality items. We’ve always been aware of the possibility that these donations may be seen as hand-medowns, especially if they’re gently used, but it’s all about quality.” In addition to binding materials and silicon-penis prosthetics, clothing, makeup, wigs and breast forms also will be available at The Closet. Passional Boutique, GC2B Transitional Apparel, The Breast Form Store, FTM Essentials and Shape Shifters are among the companies that have committed to regularly donating to the program. The Closet also will offer access to legal-service referrals for name and gender-marker changes on state-identification cards and driver’s licenses. Keisha Gabbidon, Bebashi’s prevention-navigator supervisor who spearheaded the initiative, said The Closet is Philadelphia’s first trans-specific resource program. Although other organizations offer similar services, Gabbidon said this program is unique in providing clients with free items needed for the transition process that can be costly. Binders can run up to $200 and
prosthetics can be priced as high as $300. Insurance providers do not cover the cost of these items. “One of the best moments is being able to properly give the clients what they need, especially if they’re not able to afford better-quality materials that come with an expensive price tag,” said Gabbidon. Davi, who uses binding materials and identifies with the pronouns they/them, added there’s also the matter of going through the process of finding items that fit properly. “As a person who binds, you go through a trial-and-error period for things like binders. That can be expensive when it comes to figuring out what fits,” they said. Development director Finnell noted that the organization is already working toward making the program available to the community by purchasing a new space that will house the proposed resource center. “We’re looking to build a space where people can hang out, receive educational materials, have access to navigation services as well as access to a food pantry for anyone struggling with hunger insecurity,” said Finnell. “We’ll also have free HIV, STI and hepatitis-C testing as well as free pregnancy tests. Our goal for the space in the next 12-18 months is to not be a closet, but a resource for trans-identifying individuals to be able to be themselves in a welcoming environment.” n
NATIONAL PGN
Ryan Murphy announces initiative to vote out GOP By Victoria A. Brownworth PGN Contributor Democrats delivered the biggest House win in 45 years in last month’s midterm elections. And that, according to out TV mogul Ryan Murphy, gave him hope. Speaking at the Trevor Project’s TrevorLive 2018
Gala in Los Angeles on Dec. 2, Murphy said, “In 2020, I’m going to create and fund, with corporate sponsorship, a multi-million dollar organization that targets anti-LGBTQ candidates running for office.” Murphy, who has been outspoken on the need for parity for women, LGBTQ people and people of color in television and film, said, “Senate and congressional candidates who think they can get votes hurting and discriminating against us — well, we can get votes, too.” The initiative will be named “Pose Gives Back.” Murphy said it will provide financial support to candidates running against any politician with antiLGBTQ platforms and ideologies. The 53-year-old creator of mega-hit series, “American Horror Story,” “Pose” and “Glee” said, “We are going to send a message which says you cannot make discrimination against us a political virtue anymore. You can’t keep killing our vulnerable young people by promoting and nationalizing your rural, close-minded anti-constitutional viewpoints.”
Again referencing the impact of the midterms in which women and LGBTQ candidates made strong inroads and were elected to state legislatures and the House in record numbers, Murphy said, “One after one, anti-LGBTQ candidates who made hate speech and ideology part of their legacy fell, disgraced and eliminated by Democratic candidates — who were largely boosted by victory by young and female voters, by the way. The number was astounding to me — over 20 anti-LGBTQ right-wing politicians and their horrifying views — gone.” Murphy and the cast of the critically acclaimed series “Pose” were honorees at The Trevor Project Gala, receiving the Hero Award for broadening LGBTQ representation on television. “Pose” was a breakout hit this year and the first scripted series on television to feature trans actors in trans roles telling trans stories. Trans activists and writers Janet Mock and Our Lady J were producers on the series, created by Murphy, with his long-time creative partner Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals, a young black screenwriter who graduated from UCLA’s MFA Screenwriting program in 2015. Referencing both his initiative and the work The Trevor Project does to prevent LGBTQ suicide, Murphy named some anti-LGBTQ politicians whose rhetoric and policies had endangered LGBTQ people had been voted out in the midterms: “Dana Rohrabacher. Mia Love. Jason Lewis. Pete Sessions — bigots, all of them,” he said at the gala. “And all replaced by our Democratic allies — new politicians who won’t spread harmful and wrong rhetoric that can lead a young LGBTQ person to actually believing they are not good enough or worthy enough to stay on this earth anymore.” The Trevor Project raised $1.5 million at the gala toward its services for LGBTQ youth. n
The Trevor Project has a 24-hour hotline: 1-866-488-7386 and is also available for chat and text at www.thetrevorproject.org.
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
EDITORIAL PGN EDITORIAL
Creep of the Week
D’Anne Witkowski
Mike Pence
Editorial
When is it time to forgive? Kevin Hart’s refusal to apologize for anti-LGBTQ tweets and jokes years ago cost him a job hosting the Oscars. The furor continues, with commentaries and opinion pieces demanding Hart apologize. The cycle of build-up-tear-down-rehabilitate celebrities is not complete without the requisite tearful atonement. Then, chastised celebrity disappears for a period of time and re-emerges to rebuild his/ her damaged brand. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the co-host of MSNBC’s show “Morning Joe,” Mika Brzezinski, asked rhetorically whether Secretary of State and former CIA Director Mike Pompeo is a “wannabe dictator’s butt boy.” Within minutes, Brzezinski was barraged on Twitter for homophobic language. She apologized on Twitter for a “SUPER BAD choice of words.” Couple of things to note here: When left-wing celebrities behave badly, the mainstream media, backed by the social-media mobs, pounces. Hart broke the rules by not apologizing and then not apologizing for not apologizing. That keeps the frenzy going; but what if Hart, in his refusal to apologize, is simply opting out of the cycle that forces progressive celebrities to do some variation of a social-media perp walk in which they accept their flogging with an apology? Beyond that — is he no longer a homophobe if he apologizes? Is he a homophobe if he doesn’t? While Hart’s words, some dating back more than 10 years, are picked apart, we are forgetting the other world we live in — one in which a churlish reality-television personality leads the most powerful country in the world, and does it badly. As Americans, we are subjected to — on a daily basis — verbal assaults on refugees, immigrants, LGBTQ people, women, minorities, poor people, the uninsured and more. Chances are if you are reading this, you are in one these categories. But the assault is more than verbal — policies are put in place every single day to punish those categories of people for the temerity to exist. The subsequent uproar doesn’t even come close to that over Kevin Hart’s homophobic tweets from 2011. It’s time to ask, when so much energy is spent tearing celebrities down, what really matters? n
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World AIDS Day was Dec. 1, as it has been every Dec. 1 for the last 30 years. And the day before, on Nov. 30, President George H.W. Bush died. While these two things may appear unrelated, they are not. Bush was, of course, vice president during the reign of President Ronald Reagan, a man who ignored AIDS and the predominately gay men it was killing. Things didn’t exactly improve once Bush became president. AIDS has killed a lot of people all over the world. And over the years, the policies of Republican administrations sure didn’t help matters. Faux morality crusaders have seemed more interested in punishing people with HIV and AIDS than in preventing the spread of the disease. Which is why the choice of Vice President Mike, “I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” Pence to deliver the White House’s 2018 World AIDS Day address is so fitting. And so gross. Pence was himself one of those faux morality crusaders when he represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2001, he sounded the alarm on CNN about the danger of condoms and then Secretary of State Colin Powell’s recklessness in advising people to use them. Pence called Powell’s advice “very sad.” “Colin Powell had an opportunity here to reaffirm this president’s commitment to abstinence as the best choice for our young people,” he said to Wolf Blitzer. “The other part is that, frankly, condoms are a very, very poor protection against sexually transmitted diseases, and in that sense ... the secretary of state may be inadvertently misleading millions of young people and endangering lives.” It is, of course, not true that condoms provide poor protection against STDs. When used properly, they have a reputation for working pretty darn well. Of course, if you believe that abstinence is the only way and should be the only option, well then a condom’s probably going to seem pretty scary since people use them when they have S-E-X. Pence didn’t want people in Africa, where AIDS has ravaged so many, to use condoms, either. Especially not if the United States was paying for them. “The timeless values of abstinence and marital faithfulness before condom distribution are the cure for what ails the fam-
ilies of Africa,” he said on the House floor in 2003. “It is important that we not just send them money, but we must send them values that work.” Note that he’s basically saying that Africa lacks values and ignorant Africans keep on sexing and cheating so why should the U.S. have to pay for it? Pence’s awful history on the subject of AIDS continued as he moved up the political ranks. When he was the governor of Indiana, he cut public-health funding and rejected a needle-exchange program, because of “morals,” even when there was an uptick in HIV infections. When he finally relented a bit, the number of infections went down. And now people are pissed because Pence didn’t even mention the gay community in his 2018 address. It is, no doubt, an intentional omission. And in some ways it feels like a relief. I mean, the previous examples show that when Pence does discuss specific populations, whether they be Africans, drug users or fornicators, he has a tendency to say really insulting stuff. There’s little doubt that his take on gay people and AIDS would be a poor one. But, of course, those who remember the history of the AIDS epidemic know how harmful it is to not be seen or acknowledged. As ACT UP has taught us: Silence = Death. “We’ve come so far, but there’s so much farther to go to be able to end the AIDS Crisis,” ACT UP’s Eric Sawyer told Out Magazine. “There’s still an inordinate amount of fear and hysteria around HIV that prevents people from testing, coming out about their status, and that triggers all kinds of negative, hateful language directed at positive people.” And, of course, in the case of Pence — gay sex, extra-marital sex, drug use trouble Pence’s conscience. So he has spent his political career trying to prevent these things. The deaths? At best, Pence considers them an afterthought. At worst, a divine retribution. n
“The timeless values of abstinence and marital faithfulness before condom distribution are the cure for what ails the families of Africa.”
D’Anne Witkowski is a poet, writer and comedian living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been writing about LGBT politics for over a decade. Follow her on Twitter @MamaDWitkowski.
OP-ED PGN
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
To cis gender or not There’s “cis gender man” and the let’s say back in 1969 and before, polite ever popular “cis gender woman,” not society had labels for us. They weren’t to be confused by “cis het.” There’s also very nice, and I’m sure you know many “trans man” and “trans woman.” Then of them so I won’t repeat them here. But there’s “fluid,” “gender queer,” it just might surprise you that “pan-sexual,” “non binary”… those folks who fought at you get the idea. There are even Stonewall and organized the folmore, but I literally can’t put lowing three nights of demonthem all here since it actually strations had almost to a man or would go beyond my word women one word that they all count for this column space. hated. That word was “homoThey’re all labels that memsexual.” Their reasons for hating bers of our community use. the word were that it was cliniThe labels make those individcal and it was used as a tool by uals feel comfortable, so that’s that polite society to embrace all a good thing. You may feel those other hurtful and derogauncomfortable with some of the tory words used by them to labels, and some are surprisdescribe us. ingly controversial. But what is The very first thing that heard most is that there are too came out of Stonewall when many labels and it gets confusMark Segal Gay Liberation Front spoke ing, or some wonder whether OUT, PROUD and in your we are splintering our commuface, was that we no longer nity. And that’s what this column is all would allow polite society to label us, about. That fuss about these labels is really but we would label ourselves and define unnecessary, that is if you know the hiswho we were as a people and individutory of our community and the oppression ally. Some of our labels included “fairies” labels have caused for thousands of years. and “radical lesbian.” Sylvia [Rivera] and Marsha [Johnson], a couple of unsung When we as a people were invisible,
Mark My Words
Street Talk heroes of the Gay Liberation Front, tried various labels, but decided on transvestite and created Street transvestite Action Revolutionaries, STAR. My little group was simply “gay youth,” which might not seem controversial now, but in those days, society’s image of gays was as child molesters and old men. And those labels that those of us from GLF and Stonewall used, well the mainstream of our community had issues with them — similar as today’s labels used at the top of this column. That should be a guideline today, since the same rules of Stonewall/GLF still stand true. Translation: You as an individual have the right to label yourself, or not, and others should respect that. And, likewise, we have no right to impose a label on anyone else. If we do so we are as guilty as “polite society.” In correspondence with other GLF members I still sign off with “your Gay Youth, Mark.” I may not be a youth any longer, but my label is still simply, “gay.” Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s most-awardwinning commentator in LGBT media. You can follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MarkSegalPGN or Twitter at https://twitter.com/PhilaGayNews.
Op-Ed Coming out of the guard closet By Miranda Lankas PGN Contributor Color guard: if you’ve heard of it at all, chances are you’ve heard the people involved dubbed the “reject cheerleaders,” or simply seen them with the band at football halftime shows. The guard is a team of people who use flags, sabres, rifles and dance to tell a story with music. In the band world, they’re dubbed “the auxiliary,” or simply referred to as the visual component of the show. As years have passed and guard has advanced, the “sport
of the arts” has found other venues away from the band, creating its own community to showcase technical skill, athletic ability and artistry. While guard remains a cornerstone of half-time performances all over the country within marching bands, guards operating independently from scholastic programs can be found in regional and worldwide competitions as well as exhibition-only programs that participate in local events or parades. I joined my high school’s color guard in 2013 while I was still in the closet. The person
who was my captain that year was queer (and prefers the pronouns they/them). They took me under their wing from the moment I walked in. Although my coaches deserve all the credit for teaching me how to spin, it was my captain who first encouraged me to work on rifle, who invited me into their home on weekends and made me feel welcome on the field. It was through that same captain that I made many other queer friends and first became comfortable being out. Before I came out to either of my parents, guard was my cover to hang out with other gay kids, and eventually to begin dating my first girlfriend; since we were spinning together, it wasn’t weird for her to pick me up every weekend or for us to hang out for hours after school, and I felt safe exploring my sexuality without worrying what they would think. Even as I struggled to accept my sexuality, color guard gave me something to strive for and a place to feel like I was part of a family by connecting me with people I knew would pick me up whenever I fell down.
Through the worst and most traumatic experiences of my life, my coaches and fellow guard members have unconditionally supported me in a way I never found anywhere else. I’ve been lucky enough to make my closest friends and allies within this activity, as well as find my incredible partner, whom I would have never met outside of guard. “Almost every color guard instructor I’ve ever had has been gay, and just seeing that made it feel like it was all right to be gay,” said Kay Peebles, a nonbinary pansexual who has been spinning since 2013. “I think guard was the first place I thought it was okay to be out, and then after that I could be out with anyone I knew, because if you’re out in front of crowds and crowds of people performing, it’s easier to be out in day-to-day life.” As guard attracts more and more LGBT members, the shows themselves have come to reflect this growing population. “Pennsauken had a soloist last year who put on a wig and he danced like a drag queen, PAGE 17 because gay
Will you read Michelle Obama's new book? “No. I’ve heard enough from Michelle Obama. She should focus on giving back to the community. She was Ellen Appleton fine as a homemaker first lady. York, S.C. But I didn’t like her comment about not being proud to be an American until her husband was elected president. Why wasn’t she always proud to be an American? Nobody oppressed her. Look where she ended up in life.” "Yes. She brings a lot of class into the political arena. But I also think she's very peoplefriendly. I'm very Stefanie Garner interested student in reading Graduate Hospital area her new book. She's a great role model for the younger generation." “Yes. She’s a wonderful mentor for young women, particularly young women of color. I’ve always Rebecca Ulm found her art educator West to be inspiPhiladelphia rational. I’m sure that whatever she writes, I’ll find it inspiring. I’d also like to learn more about her life leading up to the White House.”
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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
PGN
PGN REGIONAL
Media Trail Mississippi officials vote to allow second gay pride parade The Commercial Dispatch reports the second year was a little easier for organizers of a gay pride parade in a Mississippi college town. It took a protracted standoff that included a lawsuit before Starkville’s elected officials permitted a gay pride parade earlier this year. Dec. 4, aldermen voted 4-3 to approve 2019’s application. Three aldermen say they don’t think the city should spend on in-kind services for any parades, also voting Dec. 4 against a permit for a Martin Luther King Jr. march. Two opponents are African American. Aldermen originally rejected the Starkville Pride permit on a 4-3 vote last year, but Alderman David Little abstained from a second vote, allowing Mayor Lynn Spruill to break the tie in favor of the parade permit. This year, Little voted for the permit.
Judge clears records of 4 Texas women in sex assault case Texas Public Radio reports a judge has expunged the criminal records of four Texas women whose sexual assault convictions were overturned on appeal due to faulty expert testimony at their trials. Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh and Anna Vasquez
MAZZONI from page 1
tors now has eight members following the most recent departures. PGN’s reporting confirmed Tuesday’s resignation but not the former board member’s name. The former secretary, Miriam S. Edelstein, a litigation attorney with ReedSmith, was on the board for less than a year. It was not immediately clear why she was voted off. Edelstein was appointed last December along with Allison Bloom, who left the board earlier this year; David Davis; Mohamad El-Khatib; and Nu’Rodney Prad, now the acting president. At the time of the quintet’s appointment, Mazzoni Center issued a statement saying that “among other skills and experience, Mazzoni Center’s new board members bring many talents.” In a statement to PGN on Edelstein’s removal, Prad said, “We are grateful for Miriam’s contributions and those of others who have left the board.” When asked about Edelstein being
served nearly 15 years in prison for their 1994 convictions before those were overturned. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2016 exonerated the women who came to be known as the San Antonio 4. But the felony convictions remained on their records until state District Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl ordered them removed Monday. Ramirez’s nieces, then ages 7 and 9, accused the four of assaulting them during a weekend visit with their aunt. One niece later recanted her testimony, saying family members upset about her aunt being a lesbian had told her to lie.
Virginia teacher fights for job over transgender controversy The Star Tribune reports a Virginia high school teacher is fighting a recommendation to be dismissed in the wake of a controversy involving a transgender student. West Point High School French teacher Peter Vlaming was placed on paid administrative leave Oct. 31. Attorney Shawn Voyles said his client declined a female student’s request to be referred to as a male. Ahead of a school board hearing Dec. 6, Voyles said Vlaming offered to use the student’s name and to avoid feminine pronouns, but Voyles says the school was unwilling to accept the compromise and chose to force Vlaming to speak and act contrary to his own Christian convictions or be fired. An online petition entitled “Protect Trans Kids” said the student had been openly trans for the whole year and students were constantly correcting Vlaming. n
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
ASSAULT from page 1
In a brief phone interview with PGN Dec. 5, Millington said Edwards punched him first and that he acted in self-defense. “She punched me. I punched her back. It was a reflex,” he said. “She hit me pretty hard. There’s a mark on my face. I don’t allow people to hit me. People can’t get away with that.” Millington said he would never punch someone over a bottle of water. “I didn’t punch her over a bottle of water. I didn’t know the girl. I had no idea what she was. I didn’t even know she was a girl. I thought she was a guy.” Millington said he self-treated a facial injury allegedly caused by Edwards. “She left a big knot on my face. I had to [apply] ice.” Edwards denied hitting or punching Millington. “I would never try to fight a man, especially not somebody that big,” she said. “I was having a good time, enjoying myself. There would be no reason at all for me to punch someone. I’m not a violent woman anyway. This [alleged assault] literally came out of of nowhere.” Edwards said she is clearly a woman. “There is no mistaking me for a man. He’s being disingenuous when he claims he thought I was a man. I don’t see any other reason he would target me other than my LGBT status.” Millington denied targeting Edwards for her sexual orientation. “I could care less what she has going on in her personal life. That has nothing to do with me. I’m not
going to hit somebody because they’re a lesbian. I’m not into that.” Edwards expressed hope that Millington will be charged with a hate crime. “I’m hoping they add hate-crime charges in the future. I firmly believe I was assaulted due to my LGBT status. I’m looking forward to closure through a successful prosecution and conviction.” Waxman, the D.A.’s spokesman, declined to comment on the specifics of Millington’s prosecution, but said it’s possible to add charges to a case if evidence comes to light supporting the charges. “Generally speaking, we’re always open to new evidence and further investigation,” Waxman told PGN, “if there’s additional information that comes to light.” Edwards said she was treated at the emergency room of Einstein Medical Center shortly after the assault for a concussion, scrapes and bruising to her face. Her right eye was swollen shut. She incurred about $600 in medical bills that weren’t covered by her insurance, she said. “There were two days when I couldn’t work because of severe headaches,” she added. “For several months, I saw white flashes from the corner of my right eye.” Millington, who declined to disclose his occupation, said that he has no prior criminal record. He said he has an attorney but declined to disclose the name. Millington also said that he sees no need to apologize to Edwards because he is innocent. n
Holiday Catering by Christine
— Compiled by Larry Nichols
voted off rather than voluntarily leaving, Mazzoni Center refused to comment. Edelstein also declined requests for comment. In October, five Mazzoni Center board members retired after 13 years. “Now it’s time to make space for new faces, new voices and new perspectives,” then-board president Chris Pope had told PGN. He since has resigned from the board, citing he wanted to spend more time with his family, and continues to serve in an advisory capacity. When asked about the vision and mission of the board, Prad reiterated the mission statement on Mazzoni Center’s website, saying the board makes decisions with the goal of providing health and wellness services “while preserving the dignity and improving the quality of life of the individuals we serve.” The board will continue to bring on new members “reflecting the diversity of staff, patients and the community we serve,” Prad said, declining to elaborate. n
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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
MENTAL HEALTH PGN
Tips for difficult family situations this holiday season For each of us, the holidays bring up tempting to try to just avoid the holidays a variety of emotions, associations and altogether, at some point you will inevitaexpectations. For the luckiest of us, we bly notice that they are happening. Make think of mostly the good stuff: the bright plans in advance to be with friends, chosen lights of decorations, get-tofamily and/or community. If gethers with friends and loved you do choose to be alone, be ones and traditions such as eggcertain that you’ve checked in nog and kissing under mistletoe. with yourself about the decision For many of us, though, the and that you won’t ultimately holidays are significantly more regret it. By the way, if you complex. While family can be feel like you’ve got nowhere a point of difficulty no matter to go, the William Way LGBT who you are or how you idenCommunity Center is open 365 tify, for many LGBTQ people days a year and always takes family gatherings, and thus the care of community members on holidays, can be an incredibly holidays. stressful and anxiety-inducing On the other hand, if you time. fall into the category of having The most common, distressa strained (but not estranged) ing familial experiences I find relationship with family and during the holidays are as folKristina Furia plan on spending the holidays lows: One, there’s a full cut-off with them doing the traditional from family and the holidays are a painful thing, I encourage you to show up prereminder of that, or two, family members pared. I recommend trying the following, are less than accepting and perhaps pasin no particular order: sive aggressive (or worse), but still expect 1. Don’t fall prey to negativity. If you attendance at family gatherings. know snide remarks, passive-aggressive If you fall into the category of being behaviors or any other negative intercompletely estranged from your family, action will come your way, decide in the best thing you can do for yourself in advance what your reaction will be. Even preparation for the holidays is to establish if you simply say to yourself that you your plans for the season. While it may be
Thinking Queerly
Who has impacted the local LGBT community most in 2018?
will ignore any negativity, deciding this in advance helps to ensure that you stick with the plan. 2. Hang with the kids. Children bring joy and they don’t know hate. If you spend some time enjoying the simplicity that children bring and allow yourself to be present, their inherent positivity will help balance out any negativity the adults brought with them. 3. Watch your drinking. For many of us, it’s a natural inclination in stressful situations to consume more alcohol than we typically would: Resist this urge. As you know, the more we drink, the less capable we are of regulating our emotional reactions. You will be most in control and empowered if you maintain a level of sobriety. 4. Take a breather. If the situation is starting to overwhelm you, excuse yourself to the restroom or for a bit of fresh air for several minutes in order to re-center yourself and quite literally, take a breath. Focusing on slow, purposeful breaths for just a few minutes can help to deactivate your body’s natural reaction to stress. 5. Establish a goal and visualize that successful outcome. For example, the type of goal you might set for yourself is getting through the night without
losing your temper. This is an effective goal because it falls within your control — you can decide only your own behavior and it’s important to remember that. Before you go in, visualize yourself making it through the day calmly and peacefully. 6. Don’t be afraid to leave when you’re maxed out. With family comes feelings of obligation. While it is OK to choose to honor familial obligations even if there’s a level of toxicity to them, you do not and should not abandon your own sense of boundaries. If you know you need to leave after several hours, do it. While there is no airtight way of ensuring that we will make it through the holidays unscathed, if we acknowledge our own abilities to affect our interactions with family members, we are way more likely to feel OK at the end of it all. When we make decisions that align with our morals and values and that take into consideration our own self-worth, we truly do have the best shot at feeling at peace with ourselves and, of course, of making it through in one piece. Sending love to you all. n
T:5”
Kristina Furia is a psychotherapist committed to working with LGBT individuals and couples. She owns Emerge Wellness, an LGBT health and wellness center in Center City (www.emergewellnessphilly.com).
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International Mexican gay couple married in US has marriage recognized back in Mexico A married gay couple, Daniel Berezowsky and Jaime Chávez Alor, became the first Mexican citizens to have their same-sex marriage recognized in their home country. The couple married at the Mexican consul in New York City in an intimate ceremony. “Everything went so fast,” Chávez Alor said. “But we were very happy that this was finally happening. After six years of being in a relationship, we knew that this was the step we wanted to take.” It took the men six months and a lengthy battle to get a marriage license from the Mexican consul in NY. They filed a legal challenge with a federal court in Mexico. On 19 October the court ruled in their favor. “We thought it was discriminatory and a
violation of our human rights,” Chávez Alor said. “We had every right to get married.” In 2015, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled a bans on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. But same-sex marriages can only be officiated in Mexico City and a handful of states in Mexico. Thanks to the two men, Mexican lawmakers are now considering updating its laws to recognize same-sex couple married abroad. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio celebrated the men’s marriage. “Their persistence will make a meaningful difference for LGBT Mexican immigrants and their families living in New York City and elsewhere,” the New York Mayor’s office wrote on Facebook. “We are so proud that Daniel and Jaime chose NYC, the host of the world’s largest diplomatic community & the birthplace of the modern movement for LGBT rights, for their special day.”
LGBTI ‘exorcisms’ on the rise in Indonesia Islamic exorcisms of LGBTI Indonesians are on the rise in Indonesia. Known as ruqyah, the practice uses prayers and, at times, physical torture to drive out evil spirits. Medical experts
OP-ED from page 11
HART from page 1
culture is very, very prominent in guard, in such that it gets written into shows and then you get to see them,” Peebles said. “In color guard, no matter what you do, it’s sort of like you don’t have to hide at all.” Aside from just show themes, guards have even been founded with the express purpose of catering to minority groups. Jeff Shearer is both a coach and a performer for Light Brigade, a guard founded in 1976 and based in Philadelphia. “This activity has always been accepting to different diversities — LGBT, anything. There’s a trans woman who spins and every time I watch her, I can’t take my eyes off of her. But it’s not just the LGBT community — there are special-needs color guards, there are all different types of therapy color guards, it’s more than just LGBT. Anybody can do it.” For those of you who attended Philadelphia Pride this year, you saw some of Light Brigade’s members spinning in the parade with the Flaggots, a guard that tours Pride parades in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Member Gerald Askins has spun with the organization for two years now. “You don’t have to be gay — you can be whomever. It brings the community and the world together because there are people on the team who are not gay and not lesbians — they’re straight and they support the community and support Pride.” This is an activity that celebrates your personal identity, and to any person reading this who wants to try it out, I leave you with the advice of my coach, Jeff: “I’d say join; it welcomes you into a community of other gays, trans people, LGBT individuals. I say come, give it a shot, because it opens a door for you to express yourself.” n
time this has come up. I’ve addressed it. I’ve spoken on it. I’ve said where the rights and wrongs were. I’ve said who I am now versus who I was then. I’ve done it. I’m not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I’ve moved on and I’m in a completely different place in my life.” In a third attempt at apology, delivered on Twitter at 1 a.m. on Dec. 7, Hart wrote, “I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars.... this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.” In a follow-up tweet, Hart added, “I’m sorry that I hurt people. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again.” Then eight hours later Hart tweeted, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr.” That tweet prompted thousands of responses ranging
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
denounce conversion therapies because they cause serious psychological damage. Dede Oetomo of LGBTI organization GAYa Nusantara said he had received increasing reports of people being forced to undergo conversion therapy. “These people finally come to LGBTI organizations like mine for peer counseling and support” after the experience, he said. Indonesia is cracking down on its LGBTI population. Regional governments are planning to fine LGBTI residents. There has also been mass demonstrations and attacks against LGBTI Indonesians. Worryingly, people often upload ruqyah videos to YouTube. A mainstream national television channel, Trans 7, even showed the ruqyah of a gay man. What’s more, conversion therapies have been endorsed by the government. Regional leaders in East Java and West Sumatra are considering ruqyah programs for their LGBTI populations, according to Oetomo. Dina Listiorini, who is researching the LGBTI crackdown at the University of Indonesia, said ruqyah sometimes take place in Islamic boarding schools. Citing testimony from LGBTI people, Listiorini said ruqyah can take a number of forms. In some cases, religious leaders or famfrom, “You did NOT” to “It’s the Oscars, not Selma,” to a photo of Bayard Rustin, the gay civil-rights leader, and Martin Luther King Jr. walking together with the caption, “Bayard Rustin: Martin, Look at this. MLK JR.: No, thank you. Next.” Despite the blowback on Twitter, Hart’s withdrawal received its own pushback from black comedians who felt Hart was being held to a different standard because he’s black. The Oscars have a long history of shutting out black performers, directors and films from nomination. Only five black directors have been nominated for Oscars in the history of the awards and only one film by a black director, “12 Years a Slave,” has won an Oscar. Only five black entertainers have hosted in Oscar history: Sammy Davis Jr., Richard Pryor, Diana Ross, Whoopi Goldberg and Chris Rock. There has never been an Asian or Latino host. Actor and comedian Nick Cannon, with a following of five million on Twitter, posted a series of tweets from comedians Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer and Chelsea Handler in which each used the gay slur “fag.” Cannon’s tweets received thousands of likes, retweets and comments. Cannon posted, “I don’t play that politically correct b*llsh*t. F*ck poli-
ily members feed LGBTI people ash from paper with verses from the Quran. Other times, leaders force them to take cold baths before conducting Islamic rituals. “Religious leaders believe with reading some verses from Holy Quran, they can omit the evil as the cause of people being gay or lesbian or trans” she said. In some cases, family members or religious leaders rape suspected lesbians to ‘correct’ them, Listiorini said. Local media reported religious leaders also hit suspected LGBTI people with sticks during ruqyah. “Sexuality is not something wrong that is caused by evil” said Listiorini. “The processes cause pain, hurt and violate the humanity.” Anti-LGBTI rhetoric from leaders, local legislation, and attacks on the community have all increased in the run-up to elections next year. Dozens of men attacked two transgender women in Bekasi, West Java last month. Police also hosed down three trans women. “This seems to be a result of the homoand transphobic wave currently spreading in Indonesia” LGBTI activist Dede Oestomo said. n — Compiled by Larry Nichols tics! Only truth!” In a segment that has been reported on everywhere from Variety and Vulture to The Washington Post and The New York Times, on “Saturday Night Live,” Weekend Update anchor and “SNL” writer Michael Che gave his own assessment of the Hart controversy. “Well, that was short,” Che said of Hart’s tenure as Oscars host. Che defended Hart, pointing out the hypocrisy of the Academy. “Didn’t the Academy nominate Mel Gibson for an award just last year?” Che asked. Gibson issued a racist and anti-Semitic tirade when arrested for DUI several years ago. Gibson was also accused of domestic violence and pleaded no contest to domestic battery. “Also, if Kevin Hart isn’t clean enough to host the Oscars, then no black comic is. The only black comic I know that’s cleaner than Kevin Hart is booked for the next three to 10 years,” Che added, as a prison photo of Bill Cosby, recently convicted of sexually assaulting a lesbian Temple University basketball coach was posted. The Academy has not announced a new host and sources at ABC, the venue for the Oscars through 2028, suggest that this year’s Oscars may run without a host. n
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entertainment Alexander Chee: from ACT UP to acclaim By Jason Villemez PGN Contributor Alexander Chee is an openly gay KoreanAmerican author, teacher and activist. He was a member of ACT UP in the late 1980s-early ’90s and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Advocate, OUT and the San Francisco Review of Books. He also penned novels “Edinburgh,” “The Queen of the Night” and, most recently, the essay collection “How To Write An Autobiographical Novel,” which includes stories about his time working with ACT UP and Queer Nation during the AIDS crisis, his first experience in drag and the writing of his semi-autobiographical first novel. Chee grew up in Maine, lives in New York City and recently visited Philadelphia to read from his new book as part of a collaboration between the literary nonprofit Blue Stoop and Asian Arts Initiative. We sat down at 30th Street Station for a conversation. PGN: Do you have any memories of Philly or things about the city that you appreciate? AC: I have memories of Giovanni’s Room. I remember as a kid going to see the Liberty Bell, having a Philly cheesesteak. I really enjoyed my introduction to Philly’s Chinatown in this visit.
PGN: Yeah, absolutely. When I was coming out in the early 2000s, I would run into the Oscar Wilde bookshop in New York City and run back to my dorm room. AC: Right. It’s like taking a little sip of air, and then going back under water. PGN: My husband was a member of Gay Liberation Front in the 1970s, and it sounds similar to how you’ve described working in ACT UP during the AIDS crisis — that a lot of the minority members had to fight for their space in that group. Gay Liberation Front had contentious nights talking about how they should build on the leverage of Stonewall. But it was a lot of white people. You had splinter groups like Gay Youth and STAR and a lot of discourse that led to great things, but they had to muddle through that. AC: The sort of basic split that I recall is that the AIDS crisis had radicalized a lot of white gay men who had not been particularly political before then, had not ever aligned themselves with anything other than white male privilege, which is not a community, and also not really an identity; it’s just a kind of status quo. It doesn’t
PGN: Giovanni’s Room is a meaningful place for all of us. What do you remember about it? AC: I remember reading there. It’s hard to explain LGBT bookstores back then. In the kind of acceptance we enjoy now, it’s hard for people to understand the way in which they were these places where you could go to experience a fuller sense of self. So I think it always meant something to me that that place was there.
offer any sense of belonging, and the pecu- to drop the disguise. It’s hard to really liar kind of safety that it offers is one that embrace being out because they spent so requires that you don’t examine it, only long hiding. I wonder if you think young that you participate in it. So for people people, with all these resources — do they like that who have always enjoyed a lot of even need those disguises anymore? privilege, there are a lot of skills that they AC: There’s been a certain amount of don’t have that you need in interrogation of the idea of the political-movement conwhat coming out means. text. They don’t know how Coming out is a process. It’s to build consensus because not something that you do they’re used to being obeyed. once. You do it continually. They don’t have a sense of And every new context that how to readjust an argument you’re in, there’s always because they’ve never had the possibility that someone to. No one has ever made doesn’t know your identhem. Everyone’s just always tity and maybe they need to been like, “Oh, you’re know. Early on in my career, angry; OK, we’ll make sure I made a decision to be out that you’re not angry now.” in my resume, which I used These were the kinds of to jokingly call being a prothings we were struggling fessional homosexual. If I with then and we’re also didn’t list that I had worked Photo: M. Sharkey struggling with now. at a gay bookstore or at a gay magazine, it would look like PGN: A lot of the essays in your collecI didn’t have any experience at all, so I tion “How To Write An Autobiographical really didn’t have any choice, as I saw it. Novel,” and a lot of your work in general, I definitely paid various prices for it. It’s deal with liberating yourself through hard to know what, exactly. But I rememputting on a mask. And I think a lot ber a former student of mine who went of gay people do similar things. to work for Esquire, who reported an ediThey put on a mask and pretend torial meeting where he had brought up to be straight, and then my name, and the editors said something find it’s hard like, “We really love him, he’s just too gay for us.” So I think people imagine that I’ve had all these kinds of experiences, professional accomplishments, etc., but there are a lot of things I haven’t had. The culture is only now catching up to the place where my work has been since the 1990s. I think there’s a way in which people can experiment with digital identities now, so those are different masks that they’re trying on. Some people also can’t really be in the closet, because they’re too flamboyant or too something else. You never PAGE 24
ALEXANDER CHEE READS AT THE ASIAN ARTS INITIATIVE NOV. 30.
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Out & About Q Puzzle Scene in Philly
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Photo: Jason Villemez
Golden Girls holiday drag PAGE 29
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Suzi Nash
Chad Harp: discovering true happiness Around Christmas, I turn into one of those annoying people who thinks everything is a little better just because it’s holiday time. But for a lot of people, this time of year can lead to depression and isolation. This week’s profile knows the pain of those dark days and now spends a good deal of his time helping others. He poured his story out in his autobiography, “Happiness.” Here’s a preview: PGN: Where are you from? CH: Born in West Norristown Township, went to Norristown High. I went to George Washington University. I graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s and then earned my J.D. at Penn State Dickinson Law. PGN: What type of law did you practice? CH: I was in estate law for a number of years. In hindsight, that was a mistake. When I talk to young people today thinking about going into law I say, “Do you enjoy arguing — do you enjoy conflict?” It’s a fundamental question I wish someone had asked me. Because for me, the answer would have been: No. PGN: Good advice. CH: I should have gone right into writing. The first piece I wrote got into The Washington Post when I was just a junior in college. Soon after, I was published in magazines all over the country. And I wrote a novel — it was never published, but I got good feedback about it. I was told it just wasn’t commercial enough. After I became a lawyer, I wrote several books, including one on estate planning for people with disabilities, which became a passion for me. Later when I became a teacher, I wrote about that experience, too. But I never realized that writing was what I was meant to do until about three years ago. PGN: What did you write about? CH: A lot of history pieces. That first article was about Margaret Corbin, who fought in the revolutionary war and was the first woman to receive a military pension. The second piece was about prisoners of war during the American Revolution. I wrote about John Neville and the Whiskey Rebellion, which was one of the only insurrections we’ve ever had here on American soil. PGN: What did you do after teaching? CH: Nothing, I spent 10 years in bed trying to kill myself. I didn’t really get out of that bed until November 2015. I called an old neighbor who I hadn’t talked to in more than 20 years. I knew she’d become the director of counseling at a liberal-arts college and had a Ph.D. in psychotherapy. I needed help because I had detached from society. I had nowhere to go, no one to see and nothing to do. I needed help to create a life. She became
a life coach and friend. Remember that book, “Tuesdays with Morrie”? Well, beginning in January 2016, I met with Phyllis in her office every Tuesday and told her my story. After two weeks, she said, “You have to write your story down.” I did, and it later became my book, “Happiness.” I wasn’t originally planning to share it, but I showed it to her and she said, “You have to publish it — it’s going to save and change the lives of millions of people.” I thought she was just trying to make me feel good because four months earlier, I’d tried to kill myself. But I shared it with a few other people and got similar reactions. One of the best was from a woman I met at my nephew’s birthday party. She turned out to have a master’s in social work from Penn and was working with students who’d had suicide ideation or attempts. I told her, “I have a book you should read.” So we arranged to meet and I gave her the original manuscript. It wasn’t published at that point. She got about halfway through — the whole thing can be read in 30 minutes — and said to me, “You know what you’ve done?” I’ll never forget that. She said that she wanted to give a copy to all of her clients to help teach them to tell their stories by reading mine. She’s been supportive the whole way through. PGN: You said you were isolated for 10 years. What led to that? CH: I’ve had an undiagnosed and untreated mental-health condition probably my entire life. It intensified over the years until I just couldn’t cope with life anymore. I lacked the mental faculties to cope with life. So as opposed to continuing to damage and destroy and hurt the people around me, I chose to remove myself. I stayed in self-exile until I found the proper medication and it literally saved my life. I spent years trying to find the right meds and when I found it in 2015 I was out of my bed in two days and meeting with Phyllis soon after. It was a miracle — it’s the only way to describe it. I should be dead. PGN: What were some of the things that brought you to that tipping point where you withdrew from society? CH: That’s a very good question. One of the mercies is that my mind has taken certain memories and put them to the side. I don’t have access to many of them other than those I wrote about in the book. And I wonder if I’m not supposed to have access; it’s not helpful to me in moving forward. Does that make sense? I’ve learned that I needed two things in order to survive: I had to learn to love myself and to believe that there was a future. Suicide is often when you feel there’s no hope left. Even today, three years out of bed, it’s still difficult for me to believe that I’m going to be here tomorrow. It’s very challenging for my friends, because I still don’t believe that I will see them tomorrow. So it’s very important to me to have plans.
PGN: That makes sense. CH: Yes, I haven’t matured enough. Well, I’m almost 50, but I missed 10 years in bed. So the smart phones and social media are all new things to navigate. I drove here to meet with you and I’ve been doing signings and appearances, but I’m still not comfortable with it. I’m still working through finding hope and learning to love myself. When you’re looking to kill yourself, you create a mantra, “I don’t matter, nobody cares” — and you repeat it over and over. PGN: Well, maybe that’s something good you can co-opt from Trump since his mantra seems to be, “I’m the only one that matters and they all love me.” CH: Right? [Laughing] Oh, I needed that laugh. I appreciate that. PGN: When did you come out? CH: In some ways, this is it. Though as one friend puts it, the news that I’m a gay man
for a relationship. But it’s hard because, one, I’m an introvert, I think I’ve been to a gay bar maybe five times and to any kind of bar maybe 50 times, ever. And secondly, as we spoke about before the interview, there are so many things outside of myself that I want to give my time and energy to. The fact that we’re destroying the earth — if I could devote myself to getting the plastic out of the Pacific Ocean and changing people’s mindset about the way we waste so much, I’d forego a relationship if I could make a difference. PGN: What you need is a nice, environmentalist hunk. CH: That will be a challenge. By temperament, I’m not the kind to walk up to someone in a social setting and introduce myself and I’m not a social-media person, so I’m going to need someone to set me up. This summer I’ve been focused on getting the book out, but now I think I’m ready. PGN: Has all this been lifesaving? CH: In July last year, I heard from someone who said that if they had not read my book, they would be dead, in jail or had to leave the area. But that 30 minutes with my book changed everything. Another woman, a mother, had been battling with narcotics for years and said that the book is why she now goes to Narcotics Anonymous. It’s been moving.
PGN: Wow. Were you also battling substance abuse? CH: Yes, but I intentionally don’t speak about the details about that or the medications or specifics of the mental illness because it becomes a way to divide us. I was giving a speech and someone asked me and I responded that if I named it, someone might say, “Oh, that’s not what I was Photo: Suzi Nash on, it’s a different thing, you wouldn’t understand.” is the news that water is wet. It’s always It can be used to exclude rather than been a part of who I am, but it’s not a big include. The book is written in the first part of who I am — there’s much more. I person so that people will see themselves can say in 50 years I’ve had relationships in the book. It becomes their story. The “I” with men and women, but my memories of becomes you, not me. You create your own what and who I was before the isolation is story as you read it. very spotty. Some of it is just in pictures, some in short videos, some don’t make PGN: Well, “I” look forward to doing sense. In truth, I have two lives — a previjust that. n ous life and a successive life. I’m a fundamentally different person now, as I speak For more information, go to www.yellowpaperbooks. about in the book. I have to say, I’m not a com/book-chad-harp. fan of labels, but I feel like I’m ready now
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CHEE from page 21
really can hide as much as you think. I used to joke that the person who comes out is always the last to know. But not always. There are always surprises. PGN: Did anything you learned during the research for your essay collection surprise you? Did you remember the past in a different way? AC: Yeah. I talk about it in the essay, “The Autobiography of My Novel.” As I say in the essay, the thing that I realized I was doing in my stories was that I was reenacting these dramas from my abuse, where the abuse had taught me to silence myself, to sort of erase the pain that I had felt, and it’s that weird childish illusion that if you stand still, maybe nobody will notice you, maybe you’ll be invisible. That’s just not true. But that paralysis, that frozenness, that standing still as a way to escape being seen was the thing that I had to talk myself out of.
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PGN: I think that’s something a lot of gay people — a lot of queer people — go through, too. AC: And it’s always related to violence — it’s always related to the fears of violence, and I think those fears are as real as ever. We still see people being attacked, we still see people being killed for being queer, being trans. We’re still in this place where we have some rights and protections, but we don’t have full protection under the law. You can still be fired in many states. Now we see the Trump administration actually trying to push that in court, promote that attitude toward us, legally, and that’s very dangerous. PGN: A lot of the essays deal with trauma and deal with pain. I wonder with any of them, did you ever feel a joy in writing any of the essays? Were any of the essays a joy to write, or were they all difficult in dragging up those experiences? AC: There’s always pleasure in writing, to a certain extent. The pleasure of figuring something out — which is, you often experience it as relief; you don’t often think of that as pleasure. But I’m wary of people thinking the writing was therapeutic; writing is writing, therapy is therapy. One of the essays is even about how writing alone didn’t save me. PGN: The reason I ask that question is because I remember you talking about the Asian-American writer Willyce Kim and how she focuses on queer joy over queer pain, and that was one of the reasons you enjoyed her work. AC: It was. It was interesting to find her novels, so different from what so many were writing back then. It is important to write about the difficulties we’ve faced, to understand them, name them — but then, also, to make room for joy. There’s something about the current age, with social media and algorithms — complaints rouse anger, which creates a feeling of certainty, which can seem comforting in these times, but is also exhaustPAGE 30
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Sights and sounds abound for your gift-giving pleasure “Cola de Mono” is a queer erotic thriller set at Christmas By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com We’re less than two weeks out from Christmas and sure enough, you still have no idea what to get a lot of people on your list, right? When all else fails, books and music are usually a can’tmiss gift. Who doesn’t love a good coffee-table book? Fortunately, there are a decent number of new releases this holiday season. First and number one on our wish list would be “The Disco Files 1973-78: New York’s Underground, Week by Week” by Vince Aletti, the first person to write about the emerging disco scene in the 1970s. Featuring photography by Peter Hujar and Toby Old, this book is a definitive and essential chronicle of disco’s rise and evolution. The book reports magazine articles, photographs, club charts and thousands of record reviews week by week. Another must-have is “Michael Jackson: On the Wall,” which brings together for the first time the works of more than 40 artists inspired by Jackson as a subject. If stadium rock is more your speed, Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin is a massive 400-page collection of rare artwork, previously unpublished images and documents unearthed from the vaults of Atlantic Records. This is the only official book ever authored by the living members
of these titans of 1970s rock. For a more laid-back option, check out “Arthur Elgort: Jazz,” a visual love letter to the genre by the eponymous fashion photographer who followed his favorite musicians with his camera around clubs in New York City.
If the rebellious nature of country music stirs your interest, take a look at “Johnny Cash at Folsom and San Quentin,” an expansive book of photography by Jim Marshall documenting Johnny Cash’s prison concerts at Folsom in 1968 and San Quentin the following year. For cutting-edge fashion, “Viktor & Rolf: Fashion Artists 25 Years,” is a chronicle of Dutch fashion designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren and their long careers of cerebral, witty and rebellious design
and fashion history, richly illustrated throughout. For high-fashion aficionados, check out “Hermès Pop Up,” with paper constructions expanding on the luxury brand’s scarf designs in this pop-up book. How about gifting a book on the culinary ins and outs of Philadelphia by local foodie Irene Levy Baker? “Unique Eats and Eateries of Philadelphia” guides readers to the restaurant hot spots in the City of Brotherly Love that includes the sweet and spicy stories behind 90 of the Philadelphia area’s best restaurants. If holiday-themed songs are on the radar this season, there are a number in notable Christmas albums just waiting to get stuffed into stockings. The diva herself, Diana Ross (Miss Ross to most of us), has released “Wonderful Christmas Time,” a remixed reissue of holiday originals and cover songs that first came out in 1994, but have been unavailable since then. Out country singer Chely Wright has released “Santa Will Find You,” an EP of all original holiday songs that dig deep into her folk, country and torch-song roots. On the R&B/pop side of things, singer-songwriter Jessie J has unleashed “This Christmas Day,” featuring remakes of classic songs including collaborations with Boyz II Men and Babyface. If these holiday offerings don’t brighten up the spirits of you and your loved ones, well, good luck roaming and scouring the packed shopping centers and big-box stores. Happy holidays. n
CRISTÓBAL RODRÍGUEZ-COSTABAL IN “COLA DE MONO” Photo: TLA Releasing Gary M. Kramer PGN Contributor This holiday season, “Cola de Mono” is the perfect gift for someone naughty. Out gay writer/director Alberto Fuguet’s film (available on DVD and streaming) is a slow-burn queer erotic thriller that pays homage to genre films from the ’80s — Brian DePalma’s thrillers in particular. The story unfolds on Christmas Eve, 1986. Borja (Cristóbal Rodríguez-Costabal) is a bored and horny teenager who has contempt for his older brother Vicente (Santiago Rodríguez-Costabal, Cristóbal’s reallife brother). As their mother (Carmina Riego) goes off to bed, Vicente goes out cruising in the park. Meanwhile, Borja gets drunk on Cola de Mono, (an eggnog-like beverage), breaks into Vicente’s room, puts on his brother’s jockstrap, and makes some interesting discoveries. What unfolds in these parallel stories that converge is both sexy and disturbing. And herein lies Fuguet’s brilliance: The filmmaker teases viewers as the characters navigate their queer sexuality, taking the story in unexpected directions. “Cola de Mono” jumps to 1999 in its last half hour with a virtuoso sequence set in a bathhouse. Fuguet is commenting on the power and danger of sexual discovery and coming of age. His daring film includes extensive nudity and explicit sex as well as shocking violence that will thrill discerning viewers. It’s also fun seeing actors play multiple roles. The precise editing reveals details — such as what transpires with a hunky gardener (Mauro Vaca) — throughout the film’s end credits. “Cola de Mono” is like the title cocktail: an acquired taste, but quite delicious. It demands repeat viewings. n
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PGN LISTINGS
2018 The Year In Review Issue 12/21
Person of the Year
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IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR: Grammy-nominated singer songwriter Jewel is hitting the road for a series of special shows where she performs a combination of holiday classics, holiday originals and her hit songs alongside special guests: her father, Atz, and her brothers, Atz Lee and Nikos Kilcher, 8 p.m. Dec. 15 at The Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow streets. For more information or tickets, call 610-352-2887.
Theater & Arts Arte Povera: Homage to Amalfi ’68 Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition recreating one artist’s reaction against minimalism and pop art, through July, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100. Between Nature and Abstraction: Edwin Dickinson and Friends Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition exploring the works of the modern American painter through Feb. 10, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100. Caleb Teicher & Company Dance Affiliates and the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts present the jazz and swing-influenced dance troupe making their Philadelphia debut, Dec. 14-15 at
Zellerbach Theatre, 3680 Walnut St.; 215-898-3900. A Christmas Carol Walnut Street Theatre presents Charles Dickens’ classic, through Dec. 23, at WST for Kids, 825 Walnut St.; 215-574-3550. Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical Broadway Philadelphia presents the musical based on the beloved children’s book, Dec. 19-29 at Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St.; 215-893-1999. Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition exploring the drama and glamour of some of the most creative feminine fashions ever designed, through March 3, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100.
Larry Fink: The Boxing Photographs Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition of photographs highlighting the athletic world of boxing through Jan. 1, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100. Little Ladies: Victorian Fashion Dolls and the Feminine Ideal Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition exploring the influence of Miss Fanchon, the ultimate toy for privileged girls in the 1860s-’70s, through March 3, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100.
Mimi Imfurst Presents Drag Diva Brunch Mimi Imfurst and special guests perform, 11 a.m.2 p.m. Dec. 15 at Punch Line Philly, 33 E. Laurel St.; 215-606-6555. A Philly POPS Christmas The Philly POPS perform an allnew holidaythemed concert, through Dec. 22 at Kimmel’s Verizon Hall, 300 S. Broad St.; 215-893-1999. Philly Queer Bazaar An opportunity for the community to meet, mingle and shop, 1-6 p.m. Dec. 15 at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.; 215732-2220.
Notices Send notices at least one week in advance to: Out & About Listings, PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 fax: 215-925-6437; or e-mail: listings@epgn.com. Notices cannot be taken over the phone.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PGN LISTINGS
Music Jewel The singersongwriter performs a holiday concert, 8 p.m. Dec. 15 at The Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow streets; 610-352-2887.
HOLIDAY DECORATED DIVAS: “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Darienne Lake headlines a diva-studded drag show hosted by Aloe Vera and featuring performances by Aurora Whorealis, Astala Vista and Zsa Zsa St. James, 9:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at Tabu, 200 S. 12th St. For more information or tickets, call 215-9649675.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical Walnut Street Theatre presents the musical based on the children’s book, through Jan. 6, 825 Walnut St.; 215574-3550. This Is The Week That Is 1812 Productions presents its annual politically charged and satirical comedy show, through Jan. 6 at Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey St.; 215592-9560. Vienna Boys Choir The legendary choir performs 4 p.m. Dec. 15 at Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave.; 215572-7650. WINTER WONDERETTES The throwback holiday show transports the audience to the 1968 Harper’s Hardware Christmas Party for an evening of songs and humor, through Dec. 30 at Walnut Street Theatre’s Independence Studio
on 3, 825 Walnut St.; 215-574-3550. Wizard of Oz Media Theatre presents the classic musical about Dorothy and her adventures in a strange land, through Jan. 13, 104 E. State St., Media; 610-891-0100. Yael Bartana: And Europe Will Be Stunned Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition blurring fact and fiction, with the artist reimagining historical narratives to spur a dialogue about urgent social and geopolitical issues of our time, through Jan. 1, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100. Yannick Conducts Messiah The Philadelphia Orchestra performs a classical holiday concert, through Dec. 8 at Kimmel’s Verizon Hall, 300 S. Broad St.; 215893-1999.
Justin Timberlake The pop singer performs 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17 at Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St.; 215389-9543. Everett Bradley’s Holidelic The holiday funk revue performs, 8 p.m. Dec. 21 at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St.; 215-222-1400. Trans-Siberian Orchestra The holiday themed hard-rock ensemble performs 3:30 and 8 p.m. Dec. 21 at Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St.; 215-389-9543.
Nightlife Devil Drag A drag nightmare before Christmas, 10:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Dec. 14 at Tabu, 200 S. 12th St.; 215-964-9675. Drag Wars All Stars 3: Holiday Spectacular The queens get into the spirit with an ice-queen-themed show, 7-11 p.m. Dec. 15 at Voyeur, 1221 Saint James St.; 215-735-5772. Dining with the Divas!: Holiday Edition Philly’s fiercest drag queens, including Vinchelle, Morgan Morgan Morgan, Satine Harlow, Bev, Asia Monroe, The Lady E, Mimi Imfurst and more, perform,
7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at Punch Line Philly, 33 E. Laurel St.; 215-606-6555.
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com Dec. 14-20, 2018
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Golden Gays: Drag trio lets New Hope eat cheesecake for the holidays
Outta Town Grunge Fest Tribute bands perform the music of Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots, 8 p.m. Dec. 14 at The Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del.; 202-730-3331. Shawn Ryan: Mistle-Ho! The out performer brings his holidaythemed music and comedy show to New Hope, 8 p.m. Dec. 14 at The Rrazz Room, 385 W. Bridge St., New Hope; 888596-1027. Paige Turner: Christmas is a Drag! The drag star performs a holiday show, 8:30 p.m. Dec. 15 at The Raven, 385 W. Bridge St., New Hope; 215862-2081. 98 Degrees Christmas Show The former boy band performs a holiday concert, 9 p.m. Dec. 15 at The Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa Music Box, 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City, N.J.; 609-317-1000. DJ Jazzy Jeff The hip-hop icon performs, 9 p.m. Dec. 20 at The Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del.; 202-730-3331. Shogun Assassin The classic martialarts action film is screened 9:45 p.m. Dec. 21 at The Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610917-1228. n
By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com Picture it: New Hope, winter 2018. For just one evening, the chilly bucolic frostiness of Bucks County will be transformed into the picturesque balminess of a particulary shared bungalow in Miami, at least in spirit, if not temperature. The Golden Gays, the brainchild of a trio of drag performers (Jason B. Schmidt, a Bea Arthur impersonator, Gerry “Rosé” Mastrolia and Andy “Scarlet O’Whora” Crosten), take on the personas of the three “Golden Girls” in their holiday- themed “Thank Yule for Being a Friend” show Dec. 15 at The Rrazz Room. According to Schmidt, the trio decided to get together on a lark sometime in the last summer, but the response was encouraging enough for them to grow it into soldout engagements on stages all over New York City and beyond. “Originally some of us girls decided to get dressed up and go to the Rue La Rue Café in New York, which has all of Rue McClanahan’s memorabilia [and sadly closed in late 2017], and do a little flashmob thing,” he said. “We showed up and sang a few numbers, and it was from there we thought we should do more with this. It has definitely evolved from there.” Schmidt said that using a beloved sitcom as the basis for their shows has brought them an audience outside the usual drag fan base. “Because drag is becoming so main-
stream, we’re getting mothers and they’re bringing their mothers,” he said. As the trio’s Dorothy, the sarcastic heart of the TV show, Schmidt naturally sees himself as the driving force of the drag trio, even if this incarnation of the show focuses more on the naïve and sweet Rose. “I’m definitely a Dorothy,” he said. “Dorothy is a leader and I, Jason, am a leader. I’ve been doing this much longer and that puts me in a leadership role as well, which lines up with the character. This show specifically is more about Rose because she’s obsessed with Christmas and she’s the more sentimental character. So it tends to hinge on her driving the story and Blanche and I are along for the ride.” Schmidt said that on top of the holiday songs they work into the theme of the show, there will be a lot of nerd-level “Golden Girls” Easter eggs for fans of the sitcom to feast on. “We pay homage to the two Christmas episodes from the series,” he said. “This show, the songs are holiday themed and they fit what we believe the characters would sing, but they are not necessarily from the show. We are definitely doing as many send-ups and winks to those crazy ‘Golden Girls’ fans because they eat that shit alive.” n The Golden Gays perform “Thank Yule for Being a Friend,” 8 p.m. Dec. 15 at The Rrazz Room, 385 W. Bridge St., New Hope; 888-596-1027.
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PGN: And you find joy in people who have been inspired by you, people who have come out from the things you’ve written. AC: Yes. It is immensely gratifying to get messages from readers who have been helped by the book. That tells me everything I need to know. Whether they are strangers or friends, people who have been able to go into therapy for the first time and talk about things that they’ve never been able to talk about. That’s what I’m in this for. I’ve seen the conversation that not only urges a focus on joy but shades people for writing about queer trauma. And I worry that people will again go into hiding. Because there is a lot of trauma. People are struggling for good reason, and not talking about letting those reasons hide. I’m not writing about trauma to glorify it. I’m writing about it to talk about how I dealt with what happened to me, and how I got through, and to offer people insight into their own lives. PGN: One of the longtime staffers of [the LGBT bookstore] Gay’s the Word in London was very excited about your collection coming out. He was also excited about “Edinburgh,” your first novel, getting reissued there. Your work does have a worldwide appeal to English speakers and anyone who is queer or struggling with race and identity, and I wonder how that feels, to inspire a person 3,000 miles away in Coventry who happened to pick up your collection and is able to come out after reading it. AC: I’ve had an international readership of a kind, in a limited way, so this will hopefully expand that. I did an interview on BBC Radio recently, and the interviewer essentially asked how my KoreanAmerican identity was going to matter to an international readership. In other words, Why should we care about you? And I thought it was an interesting question to have to face down. You just don’t know who’s going to get it and who’s not. At least at the end of the interview, he said that the interview had made him a fan. PGN: People have different essays in the collection that are their favorite. Maybe it’s an unfair question, but do you have one that resonates with you that you enjoy talking about more? AC: I think I’m most proud of “The Guardians” because it was the hardest to write. I really enjoy reading aloud from “Girl.” That’s one of the most pleasurable essays. Being proud of an essay isn’t the same as it being a favorite. I don’t know if I have enough distance from the collection yet to say which one’s my favorite. n
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Libertine scores with brunch offerings By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com Is there anything more soothing to the soul than a leisurely brunch in Center City? Probably. But for the sake of this argument, let’s just say there isn’t. Libertine, at 261 S. 13th St., already a New American restaurant presence in the area, recently threw their collective hat into the competitive Gayborhood brunch ring. The sleek, spacious and classy corner space lives up to its name by offering brunch diners unlimited access to their “toast bar” of freshly baked breads, house-made bagels and lovely spreads that are sure to make you throw your carb cautions to the wind and
dive right in. Judging by the swarm of people (a 50/50 mix of local residents and Eagles fans pre-gaming it before the afternoon kick-off) attracted to the bread selection, our sentiments were universally shared. There’s also a nice cocktail menu with drinks named after famous libertines to help wash down that massive slab of hearty oat bread you carved for yourself, toasted and slathered with pear butter. Don’t judge; we’re just getting into the sprit of things here. The brunch menu is divided into small plates, entrées — with and without eggs — and Eggs Benedict variations. For the small plates, the fresh-shucked oysters ($15) are delightful, mostly due to
If you go Libertine 261 S. 13th Street 215-398-5555 www.libertinephilly.com Dinner Sun.-Thu.: 5-10 p.m. Fri. & Sat.: 5-11 p.m. Brunch Sat. & Sun.: 10:30 a.m.–3 p.m.
THE FRIED CHICKEN BENNIE Photos: Larry Nichols the generous portion of lychee sorbet that accompanies each oyster, giving the familiar experience a bracing sweetness. On the egg menu, the Croque Madame ($14) is solid and classic brunch fare: an open-faced sandwich with gruyere cheese and thinly sliced Fleur de Lis ham on fresh sourdough toast. The petite salade and fresh fruit that garnish the dish do wonders to round out the plate. The Fried Chicken Bennie ($13) is a tasty
FRESH SHUCKED OYSTERS (ABOVE) AND CROQUE MADAME Southern-fried take on the dish, even more so if you amp it up with Libertine’s housemade hot sauce, also available for purchase and well worth taking home. Libertine is aptly named and sure to be a welcome addition to your Saturday or Sunday morning bacchanalia. n
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