pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Vol. 41 No. 50 Dec. 15-21, 2017
Woodbury repeals anti-trans law
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Staff writer tapped as interim PGN editor
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Family Portrait: Eran Sargent is helping homeless youth PAGE 23
Scheduling conflict postpones trans murder trial
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State Senate passes clean CHIP bill; Wolf will sign it into law By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com
By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com A scheduling conflict has postponed the murder trial of Charles N. Sargent, who’s accused of the grisly slashing death of trans woman Diamond Williams. Sargent’s jury trial was scheduled to begin Dec. 11. But his standby attorney, Benjamin Cooper, was busy with another trial. Sargent intends to serve as his own attorney, with Cooper providing back-up legal assistance. Sargent’s new trial date is Feb. 26. In July 2013, Sargent allegedly stabbed Williams to death, dismembered her corpse with an ax and deposited her body parts in a vacant lot in Strawberry Mansion. Sargent told police he acted in self-defense, after Williams became violent during a sexual encounter. However, advocates for Williams dispute that claim. According to published reports, Sargent had prior violent encounters with trans women in Philadelphia but the alleged encounters weren’t reported until after Williams’ death. Sargent, 48, is accused of murder, abuse of a corpse and related offenses but prosecutors aren’t seeking the death penalty. He was unemployed at the time of Williams’ alleged murder but previously was employed as a “bouncer” at nightclubs. Last year, Sargent requested the dismissal of all charges, claiming his right to a speedy trial was violated. But in August 2017, Common Pleas Court Judge Diana L. Anhalt denied Sargent’s request. Anhalt will preside at Sargent’s jury trial, scheduled to begin 10 a.m. Feb. 26 in Courtroom 807 of the Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert St. Sargent remains incarcerated at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Northeast Philadelphia, pending the outcome of his trial, according to court records. n
It takes a “Tribe”
GRANTED WITH GREATNESS: DVLF awarded five grants to LGBT groups in the city. The LGBT Elder Initiative (from left), QFlix, Valley Youth House, The Attic Youth Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania received $2,400 in funding during the LGBT grant-making organization’s annual TOY event. In addition to the grant announcements, DVLF received more than 300 toys for patients at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and children of clients at Action Wellness. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Reading considering ban on conversion therapy By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Reading could become the fourth municipality in Pennsylvania to prohibit conversion therapy for minors. The Reading City Council will vote Dec. 18 on a bill that would prevent therapists and mental-health practitioners from attempting to change the sexual orientation of patients under age 18. If adopted, the municipality would join Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Allentown, along with several-dozen cities across the country, nine states and Washington, D.C., that have outlawed the practice. The legislation was introduced Dec. 4 by Councilman John Slifko, with the support of LGBT Center of Greater Pride President Jocelyn Young and Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center Executive Director Adrian Shanker. Shanker worked with attorneys from Jerner & Palmer, P.C., in Philadelphia
and from National Center for Lesbian Rights to draft anti-conversion-therapy legislation approved in Allentown this summer, on which the Reading bill is modeled. “The result of the community support we saw in Allentown led to significant interest in the city of Reading passing similar legislation,” Shanker said. “What it comes down to is that LGBT youth deserve high-quality health care and not junk science, which is exactly what conversion therapy is.” Young said that, while her center hasn’t worked directly with youth who have been exposed to conversion therapy, she has heard from others in the area who have. “I have talked to some teachers and counseling professionals who have patients who have dealt with it. We know this is happening in the area and we thought this [ordinance] would be the best way to help protect youth from this type of PAGE 14 treatment,” Young
In a 43-6 vote this week, the state Senate passed a funding-renewal bill for the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program that doesn’t ban funding for gender-confirmation surgery. The state senators who voted against the bill are Ryan Aument, John Disanto, John Eichelberger, Mike Folmer, Scott Hutchinson and Scott Martin. They’re all Republicans. CHIP provides health-care services for 177,000 low-income children in Pennsylvania. Without passage of H.B. 1388, funding for the program in Pennsylvania would have ended by March. The Dec. 11 state Senate vote was praised as a victory for trans rights, because a previous version of H.B. 1388 that passed in the state Senate in October would have banned funding for gender-confirmation surgery. But that effort drew widespread criticism from LGBT advocates. Last month, the state House of Representatives stripped anti-trans language from H.B. 1388 and passed a “clean” CHIP-renewal bill. “I’m glad the state Senate and state House came together to do the right thing and get a clean CHIP reauthorization to the governor,” said state Sen. Lawrence M. Farnese, Jr. (D). “CHIP is one of Pennsylvania’s greatest programs and should never have been tied to a discriminatory agenda. I think many of the people in the General Assembly finally realized that — and agreed to remove the language. While this was a victory for equality, the fight to provide and protect the fundamental rights of the LGBTQ community is not over. I will continue to do whatever I can to ensure all Pennsylvanians are treated equally.” Andy Hoover, a spokesperson for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, echoed Farnese’s sentiments. “The passage of H.B. 1388 is a win for Pennsylvania’s children,” Hoover said. “The [state] Senate’s [previous] ploy to use the renewal of CHIP as a vehicle to hurt trans youth was appalling and cynical. We’re grateful that the more thoughtful path prevailed and that a clean renewal of CHIP is headed to the governor.” State Sen. Sharif Street (D) said he was “delighted” to cast a final vote on a clean bill. “We were victorious in defeating the discriminatory anti-trans language added to H.B. 1388 because of the hard work of so many trans activists who engaged the legislature — and because of Gov. PAGE 12 Wolf’s steadfast commitment to