pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Vol. 41 No. 52 Dec. 29, 2017 - Jan. 4, 2018
Attorneys for Amtrak engineer continue to proclaim innocence PAGE 2
Trump picks former Scouts lawyer as U.S. Attorney By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com President Donald Trump last week nominated William M. McSwain to serve as U.S. Attorney for Philadelphia, despite McSwain’s prior record of minimizing the civil rights of LGBT people. During a two-week federal trial in 2010, McSwain represented a local Boy Scouts organization that sought to exclude gay participants while remaining headquartered in a city-owned building without paying any rent. When LGBT advocates opposed the arrangement, McSwain castigated them as somehow acting improperly. He took particular aim at LGBT advocate Arthur Kaplan, claiming he wanted to “destroy” Scouting. McSwain also spoke dismissively about the civil rights of Greg Lattera, a gay PAGE 12 Scout in Philadelphia
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
The year in LGBT movies
Drag queen accuses salon of racial bias
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Person of the Year: Amber Hikes By PGN Staff Amber Hikes moved from Philadelphia to California in 2015. While she found her place as director of the Upward Bound program, Hikes ultimately moved back home to take on a new role: Director of the Office of LGBT Affairs. Hikes came into the position during a time of racial tension in the city’s LGBT community. This included the owner of ICandy using the N-word in a leaked video the previous October. The new director spoke at a press conference in March to introduce herself to the community. During the presentation, Hikes said the audience may have felt a range of emotions in regard to the LGBT community’s relationship with city government. Hikes ensured the crowd that she would stand by their side. “For those of you who have not felt like you’ve been heard, I hear you,” Hikes said. “For those of you who haven’t been seen, I see you. For those of you who haven’t
PLAYING FAVORITES: The annual recap through photographs really shouldn’t include one of the staff, but what can we say? It was one of our favorites because we all got together to collectively accept the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association’s Newspaper of the Year Award. Our real favorite photos are on pages 16-17.
had a seat at the table, I say pull up a chair. Because in truth, we need all of the voices in this conversation. We need all of us.” The new director noted the importance of uniting during these circumstances. “We owe it to ourselves to come together and to fight for a better tomorrow for all LGBTQ Philadelphians. So let’s get to work.” And then she got to work. A more “outward-facing” office “Amber’s impact to the city and our LGBT community has proven to be invaluable and immense,” Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement to PGN. “Amber returned to our city during challenging times and took up the mantle of leadership with equal parts grace and grit. She’s a superstar and the city is blessed to have her on our team.” After the Mayor’s Office announced Hikes would take on the post, city spokesperson Ajeenah Amir told PGN that “there was a very vocal need for someone to be more outward-facing and more community-engagement-based.” One of Hikes’ first forays into creating this type of office was through a “Pop-Up Love Party.” The Office of LGBT Affairs, along with several other community organizations, hosted a demonstration in March to counteract the messages of an anti-trans bus tour. Three conservative groups — The National Organization for Marriage, the International Organization for the Family and CitizenGo — sponsored an orange bus painted with male and female stickers along with the message: “Boys are boys.. and always will be. Girls are girls.. and always will be. You can’t change sex. Respect all.” “We feel it is principally important to center the voices, experiences and narratives of trans people at this event,” Hikes told PGN prior to the event. “Too often, cisgender people take front stage when it comes to trans issues. While it is essential to support the trans community, we encourage people to be intentional about their efforts. At this event, we ask cisgender people to show their support and solidarity with our trans siblings with signs and their physical presence.” Hikes also demonstrated allyship for the trans community after President Donald
AMBER HIKES THROWS OUT THE FIRST PITCH AT THE AUG. 22 PHILLIES LGBT NIGHT. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Trump unleashed a tweetstorm with his intent to ban transgender people from serving in the military. The Office of LGBT Affairs hosted a demonstration in front of City Hall, featuring speeches and presentations from LGBT veterans. “We are here for one purpose only and that’s to wrap our loving arms around our trans brothers, sisters and siblings,” Hikes said at the August demonstration. “I ask that we take the time to lift each other up, show all the love that we can and listen to the voices of our servicemembers and our veterans. Today, we need to make sure that love is louder than hate.” Difficult conversations Hikes also demonstrated her outward-facing approach through Community Conversations. So far, the Office of LGBT Affairs has hosted three of these forums. In the first event, held in June, Hikes demonstrated to more than 200 attendees that she is not afraid of difficult conversations. Prior to the event, the commission removed Sharron Cooks from her chair PAGE 8 position due to her