Philadelphia Gay News Vol. 34 No. 52
Honesty Integrity Professionalism
Dec. 24 - 30, 2010
City Council divided on Scouts deal By Timothy Cwiek PGN Writer-at-Large
MOB SCENE: Guests at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel were treated to a rousing rendition of “Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer” Dec. 18 by about 60 members of the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus. The chorus staged a secret “flash mob”-like performance, stationing members throughout the lobby who simultaneously burst into song and dance, bringing the bustling hotel to a standstill. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Former city worker files bias suit By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer A former city worker is suing both the city and his former supervisor, alleging that he was forced into early retirement in part because of a pervasive antigay environment. Mark O’Connor filed a federal suit in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania Dec. 14 against both the city and its personnel director, Albert D’Attilio, citing federal, state and local civil-rights violations. O’Connor, who is gay, contends that — following his involvement in the investigation of a former supervisor — the city and D’Attilio violated his freespeech and due-process constitutional rights and discriminated against him based on sex and sexual orientation under the federal Civil Rights Act, the state Human Relations Act and the city’s Fair Practice Ordinance. D’Attilio did not return a call for comment and O’Connor’s attorney, Arthur Bugay, declined to comment.
O’Connor worked for the city since 1987, beginning as a personnel selection specialist trainee with the Office of Central Personnel, later promoted to hiring-services manager in 1999. For the majority of his tenure, O’Connor reported to supervisor for uniformed testing Joan Wilson, who was overseen by then-personnel director Tanya Smith. The complaint states that throughout this time, O’Connor was “discreet about his sexual orientation but never hid the fact that he is gay,” which was “common knowledge” among those with whom he worked. D’Attilio was appointed as personnel director in 2008 after Smith resigned following an Inspector General investigation into allegations she and other employees manipulated the results of a civilservice test to promote certain individuals. O’Connor furnished information requested by the Inspector General as part of the investigation, an aspect the complaint says D’Attilio was aware of. Following D’Attilio’s appoint-
Legislation enabling the sale of publicly owned property to a local Boy Scouts of America council was introduced in City Council last week, but several council members are speaking out against the proposal. Meanwhile, LGBT leaders are mobilizing to block the sale, urging city officials to consider other ways to resolve a legal dispute with the Scouts. Officials within the Nutter administration want to sell 231251 N. 22nd St. to the Cradle of Liberty Council for $500,000 to end a federal lawsuit filed by the Scouts in 2008. Once it becomes private property, the Scouts would be free to discriminate without objections from the city. In return, the Scouts would stop seeking about $960,000 in legal fees from the city. On Dec. 16, City Councilman Darrell L. Clarke introduced legislation to facilitate the settlement deal, but he added two conditions: The Scouts must remain in the building for at least 10 years, and
ment, the complaint alleges he began targeting employees who assisted in the investigation of Smith and made numerous antigay comments to O’Connor. According to the filing, D’Attilio made disparaging remarks about the city’s domestic-partner law after he learned D’Attilio’s partner was on his benefits plan. He allegedly told O’Connor “people can tell” that he’s gay because he “waves his hands around,” and said the theater world wouldn’t exist “if it wasn’t for fags and Jews.” D ’ A t t i l i o a l l eg e d l y s a i d O’Connor was “the problem” in the uniformed services department, and said others in his unit couldn’t relate to him because he was gay. The complaint says the supervisor was “mocking, abusive and belligerent” and created a hostile working environment for O’Connor, sending e-mails that cast his performance in a false light, reassigning duties he handled for years and excluding him
President Obama this week put one of the final nails in the coffin of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Surrounded by lawmakers, gay-rights advocates and military members, the president signed the bill Wednesday that repealed the 17-year-old law that prevents openly gay servicemembers. “We are not a nation that says don’t ask, don’t tell,” the president said at the signing ceremony. “We are a nation that says out of many we are one. We are a nation that welcomes the service of every
See LAWSUIT, Page 6
See REPEAL, Page 7
they must grant access to community groups. A public hearing has not yet been scheduled. So far, Clarke is the only City Council member who has indicated support for the deal — and only tentatively as a jumping-off point for more discussion. Still, several council members have voiced strong disapproval of the bill. “I don’t think the way to end this dispute is with a backroom deal without input from important stakeholder groups, including those in the LGBT community,” said Councilman Bill Green. “If the administration has decided that the best way to resolve this matter is to sell the property, I think we should engage in an open and transparent request-for-proposal process and allow the property to be sold to the highest bidder. Furthermore, this is not just a legal dispute involving city property. There are important civil-rights issues at stake here, and any final legal settlement must be respectful of those issues.” C o u n c i l m a n Wi l l i a m K . Greenlee also spoke out. See SCOUTS Page 15
Lawmakers joyous after DADT repeal By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer
MURPHY (LEFT) AT PGN PUBLISHER MARK SEGAL’S HOLIDAY-PARTY-TURNED CELEBRATION Photo: Scott A. Drake