PGN June 5 - 11, 2015 by The Philadelphia Gay News

Dave Koz sets the stage for Manilow PAGE 25

Marriage equality wins at National Constitution Center debate PAGE 5

Magazine rebirth

Family Portrait: Klayton Fennell is on top of the world

PAGE 7

PAGE 31

June 5-11, 2015

Since 1976

PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM

Vol. 39 No. 23

Historic LGBT-rights exhibit opens at NCC Gay man

found brutally murdered

By Ryan Kasley ryan@epgn.com A first-of-its-kind exhibition centered on LGBT rights and the Constitution debuts this week at the National Constitution Center. Just in time for Pride weekend and the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Annual Reminder Days, “Speaking Out for Equality: The Constitution, Gay Rights and the Supreme Court” opened June 5 and will run through Jan. 3. The exhibit includes information on pivotal court cases, artifacts and personal stories, culled from William Way LGBT Community Center’s archives, to chronicle the debate over LGBT rights. “It has been a huge honor to work with everyone at the Constitution Center,” William Way executive director Chris Bartlett said at an exhibit preview Wednesday. “Our goal has been to show the artifacts in our archives to as many people as possible. We thought there was no better way to do it than with the NCC, who has been a full and energetic partner throughout the entire process.” The exhibit will be the centerpiece of a weeklong 50th-anniversary celebration of the first Annual Reminders, public demonstrations held every July PAGE 19

By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: The curtain was finally lifted Wednesday at the preview of “Speaking Out for Equality” at the National Constitution Center. The exhibit traces the history of the LGBT-rights movement, focusing on Philadelphia’s role in the effort, with materials drawn from William Way LGBT Community Center’s archives. “Speaking Out” was created to coincide with next month’s large-scale celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Annual Reminder Days, one of the nation’s earliest LGBT-rights demonstrations, held outside of Independence Hall. On hand for Wednesday’s unveiling were Reminder Day participants John James (left) and Ada Bello (right), along with Reminder2015 planning committeemembers Chris Bartlett, John Cunningham and Bob Skiba. Photo: Scott A. Drake

Hearing delayed for alleged killer

Senate committee approves trans nominee

By Ryan Kasley ryan@epgn.com Two prosecution witnesses failed to appear this week for the hearing of the alleged killer of a local transgender woman, pushing the proceeding back several weeks. Raheam Felton was scheduled for his first preliminary hearing Wednesday morning in connection with last month’s murder of 21-year-old Londyn Chanel. Assistant District Attorney Guy D’Andreas said his unnamed civilian witnesses knew to be at court but, after they failed to appear, Judge James DeLeon granted a bench warrant for service for both. Felton remained in police custody and did not make an appearance in front of the judge. PAGE 19

Police are still looking for clues after the body of a local gay man was found last week. A passerby found the body of Scott Stephen Bernheisel May 28 inside a suitcase that was left near the Tinicum Township Industrial Park just outside Philadelphia International Airport. The Delaware County Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be bluntforce trauma; Bernheisel had also been stabbed in the neck. Sgt. James Simpkins of the Tinicum Township Police declined to comment on the investigation. Jose Aguiar, one PAGE 19

OpENING ON A HIGH NOTE: Philadelphia FIGHT paid tribute to Gloria Casarez, Philadelphia’s late director of LGBT affairs, at the opening reception for AIDS Education Month June 2 at Independence Visitor Center. On hand for the tribute were Youth-Health Empowerment Project director Tiffany Thompson (from left), Mayor Michael Nutter and Casarez’s wife, Tricia Dressel. Casarez was a winner of FIGHT’s Kiyoshi Kuromiya Award, which was given Tuesday to Deon Haywood, executive director of Women with a Vision, Inc. AEM events continue through the end of the month, with the inaugural End AIDS 2015 Conference, free and open to the public, taking place June 8 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. For more information, visit www.aidseducationmonth.org. Photo: Scott A. Drake

A committee of the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously confirmed Dr. Rachel Levine’s nomination as the state’s physician general on Wednesday. Levine has been in the role in an acting capacity since Gov. Tom Wolf appointed her in the beginning of the year. She is the highest-ranking openly transgender public official in the state and the first trans person to be nominated to a top government post in Pennsylvania. Levine will need to be approved by the full Senate, a process expected to happen by the end of the month, before she officially assumes the position. Levine, a Middletown resident,

was most recently a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine, vice chair for clinical affairs for the Department of Pediatrics and chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Eating Disorders at the Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital-Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. She graduated from Harvard College in 1979 and went on to Tulane University School of Medicine, where she graduated in 1983. She completed her training in pediatrics at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, where she practiced from 1988-93. n — Jen Colletta

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

pGN LOCAL

locations in Philadelphia CENTER CITY — AROUND THE GAYBORHOOD

12th Street Gym, 204 S. 12th St. • 13th Street Gourmet Pizza, 209 S. 13th St. • AACO, 1101 Market St., 9th floor • Action AIDS, 1216 Arch St. • Apt. & Townhouse Rentals, 304 S. 12th St. • The Bike Stop, 206 S. Quince St. • Bioscript Pharmacy, 1227 Locust St. • Boxers PHL, 1330 Walnut St. • Cafe Twelve, 212 S. 12th St. • Charlie Salon, 203 S. 12th St. • Charlie was a Sinner, 131 S. 13th St. • City Hall NE Entrance • Club Body Center, 1220 Chancellor St. • Com-Har Living Room, 101 S. Broad St., 14th floor • Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert St. • Cut Salon, 204 S. 13th St. • Danny’s Bookstore 133 S. 13th St. • Dignity/St. Lukes, 330 S. 13th St. • Dirty Frank’s Bar, 13th & Pine sts. • The Foodery, 10th & Pine sts. • GALAEI, 1207 Chestnut St. • ICandy, 254 S. 12th St. • Independent Hotel, 13th & Locust sts. • John C. Anderson Apts., 249 S. 13th St. • Mazzoni Clinic, 809 Locust St. • Midtown II, 122 S. 11th St. • More Than Just Ice Cream, 1119 Locust St. • Nationality Service Center, 1216 Arch St. • Optimal Gym, 1315 Walnut St. • Paolo Pizzeria, 1336 Pine St. • PAT@Giovanni’s Room, 345 S. 12th St. • Phila. FIGHT/ Aids Library, 1233 Locust St., 2nd floor • Planned Parenthood, 1144 Locust St. • Reading Terminal Market, 12th & Filbert sts. • Salon K, 1216 Locust St. • Scorpio Books, 205 S. Juniper St. • Spruce Street Video, 252 S. 12th St. • Square One, 249 S. 13th St. • Tabu, 200 S. 12th St. • Toast, 12th & Spruce sts. • Triangle Medicine, 253 S. 10th St., 1st floor • U Bar, 1220 Locust St. • Valanni, 1229 Spruce St. • Venture Inn, 255 S. Camac St. • William Way LGBT Community Center, 1325 Spruce St. • Woody’s, 202 S. 13th St. •

NORTH OF CENTER CITY

1 Shot Coffee, 1040 N. Second St. • 2601 Parkway Condos lobby, 2601 Pennsylvania Ave. • Barnes & Noble, 1700 N. Broad St. • Bebashi, 1217 Spring Garden St. • Beth Ahavah, 615 N. Broad St. • Bridgeview Place Condo lobby, 315 New St. • Colonnade Condos lobby, 1601 Spring Garden St. • Community College CCP Lambda, 1700 Spring Garden St. • Congresso de Latinos, American St. & Lehigh Ave. • Darling’s Diner, 1033 N. Second St. • Girard Vet, 28th St. & Girard Ave. • HIV Early Intervention Clinic, St. Joseph’s Hospital, 16th St. & Girard Ave. • Logan View Apts. lobby, 17th & Callowhill sts. • Northern Liberties Iron Works, 821 N. Second St. • One Day At A Time, 2532 N. Broad St. • Packard Apts., 317 N. Broad St. • Philadelphian Condos lobby, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. • PYT Restaurant, 1050 N. Hancock St., at the Piazza • Sammy’s Place, 1449 N. Fifth St., 1st floor • SILOAM Ministries, 1133 Spring Garden St. • Temple University Student Activity Center, 1755 N. 12th St. • Vice Coffee, 1031 Spring GardenSty. • Welker Real Estate, 2311 Fairmount Ave. • Whole Foods Market, 2001 Pennsylvania Ave. •

Gay attorney seeks new trial By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com Just days after a jury rejected his claim of anti-LGBT workplace bias at a Center City law firm, an openly gay attorney is back in court seeking a new trial. Jeffrey S. Downs, 45, contends the law firm of Anapol Schwartz mistreated him due to his sexual orientation. Anti-LGBT bias was rampant at the firm, he claims. And when he tried to get a new job, he said Anapol officials defamed him — prompting his prospective employer to withdraw a job offer. Downs maintains Common Pleas Judge Kenneth J. Powell Jr. acted in a biased manner throughout his recent antibias trial. Downs contends Powell’s alleged biases stem from his prior work association with Gaetan J. Alfano, a lead defense attorney for Anapol. Powell and Alfano worked together at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, Downs notes in a recent court filing. Shortly before the commencement of Downs’ trial, he claims, Powell and Alfano were observed having one-sided conversations. Downs further alleges that, during the trial, Powell allegedly treated him in a dismissive manner, claiming Downs was “trying my patience” for failing to answer Alfano’s questions in a forthright manner.

News Briefing

SOUTH OF CENTER CITY

Bethel Community Home, 933-935 S. Third St. • Black N Brew, 1523 E. Passyunk Ave. • Essene, 719 S. Fourth St. • Famous 4th St. Deli, Fourth & Bainbridge sts. • Fuel, 1917 E. Passyunk Ave. • Jackson Place, 501 Jackson St. • Rockerhead Salon, 607 S. Third St. • Wedge Medical Center, 1939 S. Juniper St. •

MontCo marriages still in limbo

Montgomery County officials say they’re working diligently to obtain state validaAnnenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St. • Bucks County Coffee, 3430 Sansom St. • Bucks tion for about 100 same-sex marriages perCounty Coffee, 30 S. 33rd St., Rom. 113 • Christian Association, 3627 Chestnut St. • formed by Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes. Drexel University, 4001 Walnut St. • Fresh Grocer, 4001 Walnut St. • Goodman Hall, In 2013, Hanes issued marriage licenses 710 S. 42nd St. • International House, 3701 Chestnut St. • LGBT Center at Penn, 3907 to same-sex couples even though marriage Spruce St. • Metropolitan Community Church, 3637 Chestnut St. • Old Quaker Condos equality in Pennsylvania wasn’t established lobby, 3514 Lancaster Ave. • Oslo Hall, 510 S. 42nd St. • Penn Bookstore, 3610 Walnut St. until the following year. • Sheraton Hotel, 36th & Chestnut sts. • St. Mary’s Church, 3916 Locust Walk • UniversiAbout 100 couples who received licenses ty of the Sciences England Library, 4200 Woodland Ave. • Wilson Hall, 708 S. 42nd St. • from Hanes are uncertain about the validity World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. • of their marriages. Last week, Michael P. Clarke, an attorney All of these locations are now visible on a zoomable Google Map at for Hanes, said he expects those marriage to be validated shortly. “[W]e are in the final stages of discussions with the state in an effort to resolve this issue,” Clarke said in an email. “I canWould you like to be on our distribution list? not tell you anything at this moment but we hope to have it completed [in June].” Contact: don@epgn.com or 215-451-6182 ext. 200 Some same-sex couples who received for delivery of complimentary copies. marriages licenses from Hanes took additional steps to have their marriages affirmed

UNIVERSITY CITY

http://www.epgn.com/pages/where_to_find

Downs also maintains that Powell stymied his ability to convey relevant evidence to jurors in support of his case. Conversely, he allowed Alfano to introduce irrelevant evidence that misled jurors, according to Down’s filing. Downs also blasted the judge for ruling on pre-trial disputes even though he wasn’t familiar with the case, by the judge’s own admission. Additionally, Powell’s jury instructions were unfairly slanted in favor of Anapol, according to Downs’ filing. Powell had no comment for this story. Downs plans to file an appeal in state Superior Court if he doesn’t get a new trial in Common Pleas Court. In a related matter, attorneys for Anapol asked Powell to order Downs to pay their legal expenses, alleging Downs lied about a key aspect of the case. Anapol claims Downs lied when he denied telling an Anapol official to keep secret his threat of an antibias suit if he didn’t get $88,000 from the firm. Downs denies lying and called Anapol’s motion “frivolous.” “Their motion for sanctions on this ‘alleged’ false information was raised during trial and already ruled upon by the court,” Downs told PGN. “The court declined to provide any weight to their argument and found their argument not dispositive. Their pattern and practice is an abuse of the system.” n by a judge. But the 100 couples whose marriages remain uncertain haven’t yet received similar judicial affirmation. Kenneth Oakes and Ed Rice are among the couples whose marriage remains uncertain. They’re hoping their marriage will be validated shortly. “Ed and I remain grateful to Bruce Hanes for his courageous act, and we are hopeful that this situation will be resolved in everyone’s best interest in the coming few weeks,” Oakes told PGN.

Morris open-records request pending PGN’s open-records request for certified records from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office pertaining to the Nizah Morris incident remained pending this week. Additional information was unavailable as of presstime. Morris was a transgender woman found with a fatal head wound in 2002 shortly after a courtesy ride from Officer Elizabeth Skala. Her homicide remains unsolved. For reasons not clear in the record, Skala initiated an unrelated vehicle stop while still assigned to handle Morris, who was intoxicated. PGN is seeking certified records pertaining to Skala’s vehicle stop. In October, the D.A.’s PAGE 21

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

pGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

Weekly features

News&Opinion 2 — News Briefing 10 — Creep of the Week Editorial 11 — Op-Ed Mark My Words Street Talk 14 — Media Trail 15 — International

AC &

29 31 33 36 38

C o l u m n s

— — — — —

Scene in Philly Family Portrait Comics Out & About Q Puzzle

The COLOURS organization is bringing back its magazine after a hiatus of almost 20 years.

15 EMpOWERING, EMpLOYING: Youth looking to explore employment opportunities gathered at QSpot’s third-annual Youth Empowerment Fair May 30 at 3535 Market St., including representatives of Kappa Psi Kappa Fraternity, Inc., pictured with QSpot founder Quincy Greene (right). Representatives of a number of local businesses and organizations spoke with youth about their career aspirations and provided advice about job-hunting. The networking event kicked off QSpot’s fifth season; the next event, the Mr. & Ms. QSpot Pageant, will be held June 27. Photo: Scott A. Drake

This week in pGN 12 — Out Law: Mixed marriage 32 — Get Out and Play: Free-wheeling on the street

Classifieds 39 — Real Estate 41 — Personals 43 — Bulletin Board

A record five LGBT authors read from their work for a crowd at PAT@ Giovanni’s Room just one day before the Lambda Awards.

6 — Gay pastor to speak at TEDx 7 — COLOURS will resurrect magazine

25 — Arts & Culture cover story: Dave Koz and the Fanilows 37 — Rare queer films to be shown at the Roxy

“In the past two years, both state and federal courts, Republican and Democratic appointees, have ruled in favor of the freedom to marry. These rulings show that gay people share the same mix of reason for wanting and needing the right to marry as heterosexual people do.” ~ Evan Wolfson, during the marriage-equality debate at the National Constitution Center, page 5

Next week

pRIDE ISSUE!

pGN 505 S. Fourth St. Philadelphia, PA 19147-1506 phone: 215-625-8501 Fax: 215-925-6437 E-mail: pgn@epgn.com Web: www.epgn.com

publisher Mark Segal (ext. 204) mark@epgn.com Executive Assistant/ Billing Manager Carol Giunta (ext. 202) carol@epgn.com

Editor

Jen Colletta (ext. 206) jen@epgn.com Staff Writers Ryan Kasley (ext. 215) ryan@epgn.com Larry Nichols (ext. 213) larry@epgn.com Writer-at-Large Timothy Cwiek (ext. 208) timothy@epgn.com

Advertising Manager Greg Dennis (ext. 201) greg@epgn.com

Advertising Sales Representative Prab Sandhu (ext. 212) prab@epgn.com Jen Johnson (ext. 219) jenj@epgn.com Office Manager/ Classifieds Don Pignolet (ext. 200) don@epgn.com

Two out singers gear up for Opera Philadelphia’s “Yardbird.”

Art Director/ photographer

Scott A. Drake (ext. 210) scott@epgn.com Graphic Artist Sean Dorn (ext. 211) sean@epgn.com

National Advertising Rivendell Media: 212-242-6863 Philadelphia Gay News is a member of: The Associated Press Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Suburban Newspapers of America

Published by Masco Communications Inc. © 2015 Masco Communications Inc. ISSN-0742-5155 The views of PGN are expressed only in the unsigned “Editorial” column. Opinions expressed in bylined columns, stories and letters to the editor are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of PGN. The appearance of names or pictorial representations in PGN does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation of that named or pictured person or persons.

LOCAL pGN

Philly plays host to marriage-equality debate

JOHN EASTMAN (FROM LEFT), SHERIF GIRGIS, JOHN DONVAN, EVAN WOLFSON AND KENJI YOSHINO AT TUESDAY’S MARRIAGE-EQUALITY DEBATE AT THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER Photo: Angela Thomas

By Angela Thomas PGN Contributor Marriage equality won big in Philadelphia this week at the National Constitution Center. Broadcast by National Public Radio, the NCC on Tuesday played host to an Intelligence Squared debate that questioned whether the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution requires states to license same-sex marriage — just weeks before the Supreme Court is set to answer that very question. Debate panelists included National Organization for Marriage chairman John Eastman and co-author of “What is Marriage?” Sherif Girgis, who argued against marriage equality, while Freedom to Marry founder and president Evan Wolfson and author of “Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial” Kenji Yoshino argued in favor. The pro-marriage-equality side ultimately won the debate by an 83-14 audience vote. Moderated by ABC News correspondent John Donvan, the debate started with opening statements from both sides. Girgis argued that concluding states have the right to deny marriage licenses to samesex couples is not motivated by animus. “The Constitution does not tell you which of those views to adopt,” he said. “Is marriage about deep romantic love and stability or do we have a different vision — a more traditional and conjugal view, in which a man and a woman are coming together oriented to family life?” Eastman continued, arguing that apply-

ing the Equal Protection Clause to this issue would change a longtime societal institution and would be invoked for a dramatically different purpose than it ever was before. Wolfson instead argued that the Constitution should be interpreted in a modern context — noting the growing public opinion in favor of same-sex marriage, and pointing to the 65 courts that have ruled in favor of marriage equality. “Shift in public opinion tells us something — it tells us about the growing understanding as to how and why the Constitution does apply to gay people’s lives and dreams,” he said. “In the past two years, both state and federal courts, Republican and Democratic appointees, have ruled in favor of the freedom to marry. These rulings show that gay people share the same mix of reasons for wanting and needing the right to marry as heterosexual people do.” Yoshino challenged Girgis’ view of family life, stating the argument that heterosexual couples raise children better had no basis. “The argument is that we are doing a worse job at raising [children] than heterosexual couples,” Yoshino said. “Every major professional organization that touches the interest of children — all of these organizations have said that gay parents are doing just as well as straight parents in raising their children. The kids are all right.” Yoshino continued that LGBT individuals are not asking for a new right in the fight for marriage equality, but rather they PAGE 21 are a new group asking

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

LOCAL pGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

JUNE IS...

MARRIAGE MILESTONE: Plaintiffs and attorneys involved in the landmark Whitewood v. Wolf marriage-equality case joined with local community members last month to celebrate one year of same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. The anniversary bash was held at Fire & Ice on May 20, one year to the day after U.S. District Judge John E. Jones 3d overturned Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage. The case was led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, whose out executive director, Reggie Shuford (back row, second from right), was on hand at the party, along with Philadelphia firm Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller. Photo: Scott A. Drake

2015 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS PLEASE JOIN US!

THE GOSPEL CONCERT: FEATURING JJ HAIRSTON & YOUTHFUL PRAISE SUNDAY, JUNE 14 / 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, 6401 Ogontz Avenue

An inspirational night of gospel music where we will lift our spirits through song. THE SUMMIT BALL: CLIMBING OUR WAY TO THE TOP SATURDAY, JUNE 20 / 7:00 PM – 12:00 AM Hamilton Hall, University of the Arts, 320 South Broad Street

Philadelphia FIGHT and Philadelphia Black Pride host the region’s most recognized house/ballroom community event that integrates HIV prevention with electrified talent, creativity and artistry. HIP HOP FOR PHILLY: FEATURING TEYANA TAYLOR SATURDAY, JUNE 27 / NATIONAL HIV TESTING DAY Visit www.fight.org/hiphop for more information

Young people aged 13 – 24 receive a free ticket to this Hip Hop concert when they get a free HIV test at participating locations. THE COMMUNITY COOKOUT SUNDAY, JUNE 28 / 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM Fairmount Park, Area #2, 33rd & Cecil B. Moore Avenue

Relax, kick back, and enjoy the community that AEM brings together.

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ALL EVENTS ARE FREE! REGISTER NOW! Register online at: www.aidseducationmonth.org or call 215.985.4448 x 200

Openly gay pastor to speak at TEDx event By Ryan Kasley ryan@epgn.com Philadelphia’s first openly gay ordained Presbyterian pastor will give an insightful and empowering speech at the upcoming TEDxPhiladelphia event. David Norse, 29, made headlines in 2013 when Broad Street Ministry announced it would ordain the Princeton Theological Seminary grad. His retelling of his powerful coming-out story won him Moth StorySLAM in February. Norse is among the featured speakers at TEDxPhiladelphia 2015: And Justice for All — a June 11 conference exploring issues of access of equity. Norse’s talk will explore the intersection of the LGBT and Christian identities, drawing parallels from his own life and personal experiences. “We tend to see LGBT and faith identities in conflict with one another,” Norse said. “But that’s not the narrative I am seeing. There are many different possibilities.” Instead, Norse said he has experienced being a part of faith communities that are open and affirming. Additionally, his biblical studies have led him to conclude that the Christian faith is not exclusionary, as many are inclined to think. “There have also been a couple shifts that have brought about rapid changes in the church’s views,” Norse said. “There are out and open clergy, as well as more open

members of the congregation. Everyone knows someone who is LGBT.” Norse said part of his job as a pastor is to help others take their thinking deeper — similar to the process encouraged by TEDx. “I think part of what we pastors do is point out the paradoxical,” Norse said. “For me, that is one of the beauties of TEDx. You have lots of folks sharing insights that people may not have had, challenging people’s notions of the world, pointing out that there is more to learn about themselves, others and God.” Norse said he hopes his talk will show people that the two parts of his identity — his sexuality as a gay man and his Christian faith — can coexist and be mutually beneficial, even flourish. Assuming all goes well at TEDx, Norse said he’s eager to give similar talks in the future. “I’ve already been a part of discussions at campus ministry groups at Penn and William Way events. I am more than willing to engage people who want to learn and have conversations about it.” Norse currently serves as a pastoral associate at Broad Street Ministries. His TEDx talk is not affiliated with BSM. n The one-day conference of minds will take place 9 a.m.-5 p.m. June 11 at the Temple Performing Arts Center, 1837 N. Broad St.

LOCAL PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

COLOURS to revive community magazine By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com The COLOURS Organization, Inc., is gearing up to relaunch a publication aimed at both education and entertainment. The COLOURS Magazine is set for a soft launch in August, with the first edition to be officially released the first week of November — in conjunction with the inaugural COLOURS Week, a series of events that will include the organization’s Crystal Ball. The magazine was originally produced more than 20 years ago but fell by the wayside in the mid-1990s. This second incarnation will include both a quarterly print edition and a digital site with revolving content. “We want to diversify what we’re doing for the community and also offer the community a platform,” said COLOURS exec-

utive director Mark Wilson, who noted that recent events also factored into the organization’s decision to revive the effort. “A lot of things have been happening in our nation where people of color have not been treated in the best of lights — shootings, police brutality — and it’s important that our community has a positive outlet.” The magazine will include sections on health, technology, music and more, all aimed at LGBT of color audiences. The effort will be led by editor Joseph Bryant, assistant editor Christopher Weaver, COLOURS public-relations manager Lucky Fischer and other COLOURS staff and contributors. Bryant, who earned an English degree from Cheyney University, said he’s aiming to make the magazine intergenerational. “There are a lot of our issues not being addressed so this magazine

seeks to not only address those, but give ourselves a voice in a positive way so we can express who we are as individuals and as a collective group,” Bryant said.

The organization plans to reach out to local schools to recruit youth contributors and is also going to enlist community organizations and businesses for involvement, such as through advertisements and sponsorships. Wilson said COLOURS will distribute the print version at

community events and at local organizations, health providers and other agencies. “We definitely want to get the community involved and make sure there is buy-in from the community,” Wilson said. “We want to provide another service for the community to get involved with being creative, artistic, being mentors and overall helping us all be better storytellers.” Weaver, who served as the publication’s editor in 1996, said he’s eager to bring the magazine’s mission to new audiences. “I want to help COLOURS reach a new generation, a younger generation that wasn’t aware of the magazine,” he said. “We want to reach everyone, across generations, and make people aware that the organization exists and use the magazine to create a brighter landscape for people of color in our community.”

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The magazine relaunch is part of COLOURS’ ongoing evolution said Wilson, who became the organization’s director earlier this year. “There’s been a lot of growth recently. We brought on three new board members so we have a different board now with a new vision. We’re diversifying current programs and bringing in new services,” he said. “We’re excited to keep moving forward, and that’s what this magazine is doing: It’s important for us to give back to the community and show that there are people in our community doing very positive things.” COLOURS is currently searching for the face of the first edition. Community members over age 18 interested in being featured on the cover should submit their favorite Instagram photo of themselves to assteditor@coloursorganization. org by midnight June 15. n

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

pGN

You Can Play Night at the Philadelphia Soul PRESENTED BY

Support the You Can Play mission to insure the safety and inclusion of all in sports – including LGBT athletes, coaches and fans. All packages below include a donation to You Can Play. Friday, June 26, 2015 @ 7:30 PM Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia Soul vs. Tampa Bay Storm Red - $500 • Twenty (20) Red Level Tickets near the You Can Play seating area to be used or donated • You Can Play / Philadelphia Soul T-Shirts for attendees • In-Game and Event Website Recognition as Game Day Supporter • Donation to You Can Play Orange - $1,000 • Forty (40) Orange Level Tickets near the You Can Play seating area to be used or donated • You Can Play / Philadelphia Soul T-Shirts for attendees • In-Game and Event Website Recognition as Game Day Supporter • Tabling opportunity on the concourse for the Soul game • Donation to You Can Play Green - $2,500 • Fifty (50) Green Level Tickets (Club Box) near the You Can Play seating area to be used or donated • You Can Play / Philadelphia Soul T-Shirt for attendees • In-Game and Event Website Recognition as Game Day Supporter • Tabling opportunity on the concourse for the Soul game • Business Logo on You Can Play / Philadelphia Soul T-Shirts • Invitation to Soul Connect Networking Event with Soul Business Partners & Sponsors • Select number of Post-Game Field Passes to meet the Soul Players & Soulmates • Donation to You Can Play Purple - $5,000 • Seventy-Five (75) Purple Level Tickets near the You Can Play seating area to be used or donated • You Can Play / Philadelphia Soul T-Shirts for attendees • In-Game and Event Website Recognition as Game Day Supporter • Tabling opportunity on the concourse for the Soul game • Business Logo on You Can Play / Philadelphia Soul T-Shirts • Invitation to Soul Connect Networking Event with Soul Business Partners & Sponsors • Special On-field Recognition • One (1) post to the Soul Facebook group (12,000 reach) leading up to the game • Customized Inclusion in one (1) Soul e-Newsletter (~17,000 recipients) leading up to the game • Select number of Post-Game Field Passes to meet the Soul Players & Soulmates • Customized Soul Jersey • Donation to You Can Play

Individual Ticket Packages available for $27 at www.philadelphiasoul.com/youcanplay For questions or to reserve your package, please contact Corinne at 215-253-4900 x 180 or Corinne@PhiladelphiaSoul.com

LOCAL PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

Gayborhood Crime Watch The following incidents in the Midtown Village and Washington Square West areas were reported to the Sixth Police District between May 18-24. Information is courtesy of Sixth District Capt. Brian Korn; Stacy Irving, senior director, Crime Prevention Service; Center City District; the Police Liaison Committee and Midtown Village Merchants Association. To report crime tips, visit www.phillypolice.com or call 215-686-TIPS. INCIDENTS — At 8:55 a.m. May 24, an employee of the 7-11 at 1319 Market St. confronted a patron about possible shoplifting, and the man threatened him with a knife and fled. There were no injuries. He was described as black, 40, 5-foot-11 and wearing a green hat and black Adidas track suit. — There was one theft from a parked vehicle May 18-24: outside 900 Pine St. — There was one theft of a bicycle May

18-24: outside 300 S. Eighth St. NON-SUMMARY ARRESTS — At 2:20 a.m. May 19, a male stole a cell phone from a passerby’s pocket outside 201 S. 13th St., but the victim grabbed him and a struggle ensued. The victim was able to get the phone and flagged down Sixth District Officer Loggia, who arrested a 37-year-old North Philadelphia man. The suspect was charged with robbery and related offenses. — At 1:55 p.m. May 19, two males got into an argument inside Jefferson University Hospital, 130 S. 10th St., and one pulled out a knife. Hospital security detained the man and recovered the knife. The 50-yearold suspect with an Eastwick address was charged with aggravated assault. — At 11:35 p.m. May 19, a man was sitting in the doorway of a store at 1300 Chestnut St. when a male sat down beside him and asked for money. When he declined, the

male demanded his belongings and pulled out a box cutter. A struggle ensued, with the victim suffering a minor cut on his arm before the suspect fled. Sixth District bike-patrol Officers Henry and Thornton apprehended the suspect several blocks away and recovered the box cutter. The 46-year-old suspect with a homeless-shelter address was charged with robbery and related offenses. — At 9 a.m. May 20, Sixth District plainclothes Officers Ferrero and Grant observed a narcotics transaction outside 212 S. 13th St. They confiscated a quantity of crack cocaine and arrested two suspects, ages 20 and 21, one with a West Philadelphia address and the other with an Eastwick address. Both were charged with possession with intent to distribute narcotics. — On May 22, Sixth District bike-patrol Officers Henry and Thornton observed a group of males congregated behind a dumpster in the 1200 block of Chancellor Street. They observed one of the males

manipulating the lid of a jar containing marijuana. They determined he was wanted on a warrant for failure to appear in court and found a quantity of marijuana in his backpack. The 20-year-old suspect with a Spring City address was charged with contempt of court and possession of marijuana. — At 11:50 p.m. May 22, Sixth District plainclothes Officers Ferrero and Grant observed a narcotics transaction outside 1319 Locust St. They confiscated a quantity of crack cocaine and arrested a 31-yearold suspect from South Philadelphia, who was charged with possession with intent to distribute narcotics. SUMMARY ARRESTS — At 11 p.m. May 19, Sixth District officers issued a citation for a summary offense outside 300 S. 13th St. — At 8:45 p.m. May 20, Sixth District officers issued a citation for a summary offense outside 1300 Walnut St. n

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EDITORIAL PGN

Creep of the Week

D’Anne Witkowski

Jeb Bush

Editorial

The fuller trans experience While the “broke the Internet” cliché grinds our gears — especially when evoked in response to a Kim Kardashian photo shoot — we couldn’t help but welcome the phrase when it started spreading again this week in response to a photo spread of a different member of the Kardashian clan. Vanity Fair this week revealed its next cover, graced by Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic athlete-turned-reality-TV star who came out as transgender earlier this year. Almost immediately, hashtags like #CallMeCaitlyn began trending across social media, and Jenner’s new Twitter page amassed more than a million followers in mere hours — setting a Twitter record and even beating out our nation’s president. While detractors surely exist, the response to Jenner’s social media has largely been supportive, although some media pundits have noted that the encouragement has been largely centered on Jenner’s glamorous appearance — an interesting dynamic to the public discourse on transgender equality. Above all else, this has been and should be Jenner’s moment, and hers alone; while, as a public figure, she chose to share her transition with the world, seeing her true self in glossy form was surely the end of a long and difficult personal journey, and the beginning of a new path. While American fascination with celebrity beauty standards may be fueling fascination with Jenner’s transition, the photos only scratch the surface of her full journey; instead, the 22-page, 12,000-word story — penned by former Philly writer Buzz Bissinger — takes readers through all aspects of Jenner’s transition, based on the writer’s three months of nearly unfettered access to her. From the pain of being in the closet for so long to the freedom of coming out to her family and friends, the account provides a much more insightful look into Jenner’s transgender identity than the glamorous shots are able to capture. And, her emotional story may be more aligned with that of countless average transgender Americans than her physical process, certainly buoyed by her affluence. As trans actor and activist Laverne Cox wrote this week, the vast majority of the trans community does not enjoy the privileges she and Jenner do; instead, she noted, many trans people are struggling with access to health care, jobs, safe schools and homes. And, she said, what’s needed to combat those societal ills is a deeper understanding of what it means to be trans. While the focus this week has been on Jenner’s physical transformation, ideally it will evolve to delve deeper, to transcend public obsession with physical beauty — an epidemic plaguing American society in general — and explore the fuller trans experience. n

Newsflash: Jeb Bush has finally Also, Bush weighed in on the plight of anti-gay is setting up a Christian wedding vendors. false comparison here that makes In an interview with David Brody same-sex couples for “The Brody File,” a Christian the “bad guys.” Broadcasting Network program, Brody asked Bush about so-called religious-free- If the idea of dom laws. Specifically, he asked if Bush making a cake or was OK with vendors like florists and putting together bakers refusing to serve a same-sex couple some bouquets if serving said couple violated their relithat will be used gious beliefs. when two peo “This shouldn’t be this complicated, ple of the same but gosh it is right now,” sex pledge their love for Bush responded. other in front of their In other words, it’s each Well, amen to that! friends and family makes I totally agree. Well, you so sick and/or is so OK to tell samealmost. I mean, I agree offensive to whatever Sky sex couples, “Sorry, God you worship that you that it shouldn’t be so complicated. The quescan’t even, then you are hets only,” so long tion, “Can I tell homos the one with the problem. as you blame it to get lost because I So go ahead and tell don’t like homos?” has a on Jesus (or some the couple, “Nope. Can’t. simple answer: “Nope.” Gross.” But then don’t act other non-Christian surprised when you end Of course, that’s not Bush’s answer. having to pack up shop religion, but let’s be up His answer was, because you’ve either vioserious here about lated the law (and, lucky “Yeah, absolutely, if it’s based on a religious you, it’s not illegal everywhom Republicans where!) or because your belief.” In other words, it’s business suffers once the are interested in word gets out that you’re OK to tell same-sex couprotecting). a hateful human being. ples, “Sorry, hets only,” Because you’re clearly in so long as you blame the wrong business if the idea of bringing it on Jesus (or some other non-Christian any joy to a same-sex couple’s life is too religion, but let’s be serious here about whom Republicans are interested in promuch for you. tecting). Oh, and no surprise, Bush doesn’t think “A big country — a tolerant country same-sex couples should even be allowed — ought to be able to figure out the difto get married in the first place. ference between discriminating against This is the same guy who told Fox someone because of their sexual orientaNews that he would totally invade Iraq tion and forcing someone to participate in all over again if given the chance, so he is a wedding that they find goes against their full of great ideas! moral beliefs. We should be able to figure Sadly, he didn’t weigh in on the moralthis out. This shouldn’t be this compliity of invading another country based on cated, but gosh it is right now.” complete bullshit. My guess is that his It should be noted that “big” and “tolfeelings on that issue are, um, complierant” are not the same thing. I think he’s cated. n trying to apply the GOP’s “Big Tent” idea to the entire country. And we’ve seen how D’Anne Witkowski has been gay for pay since 2003. She’s a freelance writer and poet (believe it!). well that “Big Tent” strategy has worked When she’s not taking on the creeps of the world, for them. Everybody’s supposedly welshe reviews rock and roll shows in Detroit with her come inside, but only the straight, white, twin sister and teaches writing at the University of male and Christian folks get the real Michigan. power.

We want to know! If you are celebrating an anniversary, engagement, wedding, adoption or other life event, we would be happy to help you announce it to the community. Send your contact information and a brief description of the event to editor@epgn.com.

Op-Ed PGN

We have arrived

Street Talk

Listen up, LGBT America. heritage as a movement and as a people. The history of your struggle for LGBT This year will be our largest effort in every equality is about to go mainstream. Just way, which points out that our community like the struggle of the black community, is now willing to look at its past, a past the Polish-American immigrant story or that at times was very bitter. the Jewish heritage experience, we as a The NCC exhibit also does that, by people have a story that also showing the horrors that some deserves to be told. For many LGBT people had to endure, years, society has tried to keep like lobotomies. It also shows it hidden, and some in our very how we fought our way out of own community still wish many those traps and to a point where of us activists would simply we are about to celebrate marjust shut up. riage equality across the land. But, thanks to those individ As some advocates continue uals who would not give in, we their quest to create a national are at a point today where peoLGBT museum, and while The ple are not only talking about Smithsonian and other instiour issues, but they are trying to tutions are seeking personal understand how we got to this collections of LGBT activists, point in history. it is great to see that a major To that end, the first museum partnered with the major, full-scale historical LGBT community to present an exhibit of our history, told Mark Segal exhibit that captures not only through the lens of the law, what it was like to be LGBT will open this week at the in the 1950s, but also shows National Constitution Center. That disus what we should be looking at today. play, “Speaking Out for Equality,” can Remember, when you see the lobotomy be viewed in the same building as a copy tools, think about today’s contemporary of the Bill of Rights and artifacts from lobotomies — they are called converthroughout American history. As the line sion-therapy camps. We can learn from our own history. n goes: We’ve arrived. This column is part of a group of local Mark Segal, PGN publisher, is the nation’s LGBT newspapers that every October celmost-award-winning commentator in LGBT ebrates LGBT history, which we’ve been media. You can follow him on Facebook at doing for 10 years now. When we began www.facebook.com/MarkSegalPGN or Twitter the LGBT History Month Project, it was at https://twitter.com/PhilaGayNews. difficult to get people to appreciate our

Mark My Words

Op-Ed

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

Pedro A. Rivera, acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Education

Is mainstream TV ready for a "Gay Bachelor" show? "Yes, there would be plenty of commercial sponsors. But I'm just not sure if it would have a sustained viewership. Rachel Long The gay specifications community is consultant very engaged Radnor in national life. I would hope that gay people would watch the show and support it."

"Yes, I'm surprised it's not a show yet. The gay community is a large community. I believe there's a large demand Cole McCann for the show. student In being South Philadelphia optimistic, I think a show like that would be a moneymaker for commercial sponsors."

"I'll give it two years. The country is moving so rapidly in favor of LGBT rights. The Internet is helping people Jasmine Miller change. It's fashion designer just a matter South Philadelphia of time. In two years, I fully expect mainstream TV to air a 'Gay Bachelor' show."

"Yes. Big cities in America have strong gay populations. There would be a significant group out there to Wylie Veasey watch the student program. Queen Village Once there's enough people watching the show, it won't have a problem getting commercial sponsors."

Equity in education funding benefits everyone For Pennsylvania school students, the year is winding down: class trips, field days and graduations populate the calendar. But while students of all ages are counting down to summer camp or summer jobs, school administrators, school boards and teachers are already considering what next year’s classrooms will look like. It is widely agreed upon that Pennsylvania’s children are our state’s greatest asset, and that, without an educated and career-ready workforce, the Commonwealth’s future is dim. But according to the latest federal data, Pennsylvania ranks 50th in the nation when it comes to equitable school funding between wealthy and low-income school districts. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made

the announcement while visiting a school on a trip to the state this spring. Nearly everyone I’ve encountered agrees education needs adequate funding, which is why I applaud the promising work I’ve experienced as part of the bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission. As it stands, Pennsylvania is one of only three states without a funding formula to drive education dollars. Establishing a fair funding formula will go a long way toward achieving equity across our state’s 500 school districts. Until a formula is adopted, we must use other methods to promote funding equity for our students because, while many districts have faced budget difficulty in recent years, some classrooms suffered far more than others,

leaving students without textbooks, lab equipment or access to basic resources. Governor Wolf’s budget seeks to improve equity in a process, where currently ZIP code alone can dictate a student’s success. We need to shift our mindset that education is an investment, not a cost. Quality education requires steady and smart investment. I’ve been heartened by the enthusiasm and thoughtfulness conveyed by superintendents around the state in their conversations with me and in the plans they submitted on how their districts would spend the additional funds proposed by the governor. PDE received more than 450 plans from superintendents around the state detailing how the additional funds would impact

their students. Those plans indicate that nearly 200 school districts intend to maintain or expand access to high-quality early-childhood education or pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs; 98 districts will reduce class sizes in elementary school classes; and 87 will restore programs and personnel that were eliminated as a result of massive reductions over the past four years. These superintendents are dedicated administrators, who know their districts best and which investments will reap the greatest benefit for their students. They understand that we need to embrace a student-centered agenda in order to cultivate student success. While it may not be evident now, the chronic underfund-

ing of some schools will have long-term impacts on their surrounding communities and on Pennsylvania’s overall economy. It’s a skilled workforce that attracts new industries to our state, and small business owners depend on an educated local populace for their employees. Further, Pennsylvanians in good-paying jobs are more active in their communities and less dependent on social programs. There are many conversations happening at the federal, state and local levels in regards to education, which is promising because a healthy dialogue is essential to improving student outcomes in every school district. I’m confident that, if the dialogue in Pennsylvania remains focused on the education of students, we all will benefit. n

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A road less-traveled: father and son to husbands states still denied LGBTQ people the A couple weeks ago, a story broke right to marry. that got the heterosexual community in a frenzy — Norman MacArthur and Bill While it’s true that legally adopting Novak of Bucks County petitioned a court your partner saved people from inherito dissolve their legal adoption so they tance taxes and gave his or her partner could get married. hospital-visitation rights, the benefits MacArthur and Novak were father came at a cost. First of all, in order for and son in the eyes of the law for 15 the adoption to pass muster, there is an years, but together as partners in life for inherent lie being told to the court. The more than 50 years. Because of historrelationship is not that of parent and child ical opposition to gay marand, as such, the only way for riage, it has happened that a judge to approve the adoption longterm, same-sex couples is to state under oath someadopted one another for legal thing that is inherently untrue. protection; they couldn’t sit Moreover, the reasoning in around and wait for marriage wanting to adopt has predomequality to show up, so they inantly been to avoid inhercreatively circumvented the itance taxes, so said “lies” negative outcomes that default could be seen as tax evasion laws imposed on couples who despite the fact that the reaat that time were considered soning was because people “legal strangers.” felt marriage rights were Novak and MacArthur are being withheld. Rule of law in excellent company. Bayard so that if people Angela isfeelin aplace Rustin, the civil-rights orgalaw is discriminatory, Giampolo they should fight to reverse or nizer who imparted nonviolence credos to Martin Luther change it, not evade it. King Jr., adopted his partner, Walter Another imbedded psychological downNaegle, for inheritance-tax purposes. fall is that one of the adults is cemented The process required Naegle’s mother to as the “child.” This, in turn, engenders an legally disown him, an understandably unhealthy distribution of power in samepainful process. With that said, despite sex couples. The adoption/partnership being “out” as partners during the course also requires one partner to sever importof their 10-year relationship, Naegle was ant legal ties with living family members, cited as Rustin’s son in Rustin’s 1987 just as Naegle had to with his mother. New York Times obituary. While Naegle For same-sex couples with living parwas denied his true status as Bayard’s life ents, their family is considerably lessened partner in print, the legal maneuvering in one way while bolstered in another. granted him the role of being the executor Lastly, and probably most importantly, of Rustin’s estate. the financial and emotional risk of adop Robert Allerton, the wealthy son of the tion is much greater than marriage in that founder of First Chicago Bank, openly one cannot “divorce” their adult adopted adopted his partner, John Gregg, in 1959 child. In a way, these legal commitments to one another trump even the intended following a change in Illinois law that longevity of legal marriage, in that the allowed adult adoptions. Gregg was 22 bond used is irrevocable. when he met 49-year-old Allerton at a Despite the downfalls, the practice is pre-football game lunch at the University now gaining favor internationally where of Illinois in the 1920s. After enjoying a marriage equality doesn’t exist. In Japan, nearly 40-year union that included lavish for instance, inheritance rights are based parties, traveling and philanthropy, Gregg off of the Koseki Family Registry and so, inherited much of Allerton’s estate after he passed away in 1964 at the inheritance in order to pass on inheritance rights, one gay partner will register the other in his rate of a child, as opposed to that of a or her “family unit” on the registry. This legal stranger. is done quite easily and without raising a More recently, in June 2013 — again right here in Pennsylvania — 65-yearred flag (especially among men) because old John Francis legally adopted his adult adoptions are common practice in 73-year-old partner for financial proJapan. When the blood heir to a corporatection. They were primarily concerned tion is a slacker or not up to the task, the about Pennsylvania’s inheritance tax, company CEO often adopts his chosen which at the time made one partner liaprotégé to carry on the family business. ble for a 15-percent tax on the estate, And it’s not a coincidence that Japan and as opposed to 4.5 percent if they went the United States have the highest rates of ahead with adoption. They decided on adoption in the world. the adoption almost immediately after the While adoptions used to be very difU.S. Supreme Court decision in Windsor ficult to reverse, Novak and MacArthur vs. United States because, at the time, have set precedent in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania and more than 30 other I think nationwide, as PAGE 20

Out Law

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The Daily Camera reports a Longmont, Colo., charter school is being criticized for blocking a class valedictorian from delivering a graduation speech in which he planned to come out as gay. Eighteen-year-old Evan Young said he agreed to make some suggested changes to his speech but wouldn’t remove the disclosure about his sexuality. Young says he wasn’t notified until just a few minutes before the May 16 ceremony that he wouldn’t be allowed to speak or be recognized as valedictorian. The school says Young didn’t submit a revised version of the speech and that a graduation speech is not the time for a student to “push his personal agenda on a captive audience.” A gay-rights group, Out Boulder, has asked Young to deliver his speech during an event May 24.

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According to ABC News, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory vetoed a religious-exemption bill that would allow some court officials to avoid gay-marriage duties — but lawmakers overrode his veto days later. The Republican governor announced his decision May 28, hours after lawmakers gave their final approval to the measure. But on June 1, the Senate overrode his veto in a 32-16 vote, achieving the needed three-fifths majority. The bill will give magistrates and some register-of-deeds workers the ability to avoid duties for all marriages if they have a “sincerely held religious objection.” McCrory said he believes public officials who swear to support and defend the Constitution and to carry out their duties shouldn’t be exempt from upholding their oath.

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The Herald-Times reports educators and parents in Southern Indiana want more training and awareness of the needs of LGBT students after a group tried to establish a “Straight Pride” club at a high school. Students at Bloomington High School North had proposed starting the faith-based club in the 2015-16 school year. Principal Jeff Henderson said that federal law required the school to allow the club. The idea died when the teacher who had agreed to sponsor the club withdrew following a community outcry. But the proposal has raised

concerns about the atmosphere at the school and the need for increased awareness of the LGBT community. Guidance counselor Greg Chaffin called the proposed club a smokescreen for bullying.

Oneida Tribe to recognize same-sex marriage Wisconsin’s Press-Gazette Media reports the Oneida Tribe will soon recognize same-sex marriage. Oneida law now defines marriage as between “husband and wife.” The change replaces “husband and wife” with “spouses,” effective June 10. According to a May 28 news release from the tribe, the change resulted from a unanimous vote of the Oneida Business Committee. Same-sex marriage became legal in Wisconsin this past year.

Key West installs rainbow crosswalks According to the Tampa Tribune, pedestrians, bicycles and cars are traversing a colorful new section of Key West’s Duval Street following the installation of four rainbow crosswalks. Completed May 28, the crosswalks feature all six colors of the rainbow flag, an internationally recognized LGBT icon. City workers laid pre-formed thermoplastic color blocks on the pavement, alternating with white stripes, and heat-treated them to permanently affix the colors. The rainbow crosswalks exemplify the island city’s longstanding support for diversity. The city commission adopted the motto “One Human Family” in 2000, proclaiming equality and acceptance for all. Key West is known as an LGBT vacation destination. The crosswalks’ official debut is planned for June 10 to kick off the annual Key West Pride celebration.

NYC considers landmarking Stonewall Inn The New York Times reports officials are considering whether to make the Stonewall Inn a city landmark, granting recognition to a powerful symbol of the LGBT-rights movement. The Landmarks Preservation Commission is set to vote on taking a first step: Adding the property to its calendar. The Greenwich Village tavern would be the first landmark honored specifically for its role in the city’s gay history. Commission Chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan called Stonewall an “iconic cultural landmark.” A June 1969 police raid at the Stonewall Inn became a formative moment in the LGBTrights movement. Patrons fought with officers, and several days of demonstrations followed. The property is already in a historic district, but individual landmarking would add protections. n — compiled by Larry Nichols

pGN

International Mozambique to decriminalize homosexuality A new penal code in Mozambique will soon make same-sex intimacy legal. The new criminal code takes effect this month, removing a clause that previously allowed “security measures” to be taken against people “who habitually engage in vices against nature.” Although homosexuality was not specifically mentioned under the old penal code, it was sometimes interpreted that “vices against nature” referred to samesex sexual activity. The previous penal code had been in place, aside from some amendments, since Mozambique was a Portuguese colony, and was written in 1887. Although homosexuality will soon be legal in Mozambique, the law will still offer no protections for LGBT people against discrimination. The new penal code was signed into law by the President Filipe Nyusi last December. With the decriminalization of homosexuality in Mozambique, the number of countries with laws criminalizing samesex activity falls to 78.

N. Ireland bakery owners to appeal ‘gay cake’ verdict The owners of a Northern Ireland bakery that refused to bake a cake supporting same-sex marriage said May 28 they would appeal their conviction for discrimination. The Christian owners of Ashers Baking Company were convicted recently after refusing an order from gay-rights activist Gareth Lee. He asked for a cake featuring Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie and the words “Support Gay Marriage.” Belfast Judge Isobel Brownlie ruled that the bakery had discriminated against Lee on grounds of sexual orientation and political beliefs and ordered the owners to pay 500 pounds ($765) in damages, plus thousands in legal costs. The judge said the bakery is a business, not a religious organization, and therefore had no legal basis to reject an order based on a customer’s sexual orientation or beliefs. Members of the McArthur family, the bakery’s owners, said that “after much careful and prayerful consideration given to legal advice,” they had decided to appeal. “We continue to insist that we have done nothing wrong as we have discriminated against no individual, but rather acted according to what the Bible teaches regarding marriage,” they said. Same-sex marriage was legalized last year in the rest of the United Kingdom, and won by a landslide public vote in the Republic of Ireland last month, but remains unrecognized in Northern Ireland. PAGE 20

WRITING HOME: Author and Bethlehem native Matthew Hittinger (standing) was one of five LGBT writers — all with varying connections to Philly — who read from their new works May 31 at Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room. The event also featured Dean Kostos, Paul Lisicky, Kelly McQuain and Jim Provenzano. Hittinger, McQuain and Provenzano were all nominated for Lambda Literary Awards, which were presented the following day, although they did not win in their respective categories. Photo: Scott A. Drake

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

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pGN MURDER from page 1

of Bernheisel’s best friends for 15 years, said Bernheisel had been missing for a couple weeks prior to last week’s gruesome discovery. He said his last known activity was May 15. Aguiar said Bernheisel had some acquaintances in Delaware County but was otherwise unsure of a connection to Tinicum Township. Bernheisel, 40, was born in Atlantic City and raised in Galloway Township, N.J. He obtained an associate’s degree in business administration from Atlantic Cape Community College and took classes at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Bernheisel moved to Philadelphia in June 2011 and was most recently living in Pennsport. At the time of his murder, he was on probation stemming from two drug-related arrests in 2013. Bernheisel had not been recently employed but was previously a table-games dealer at Resorts Atlantic City, and a mortgage loan officer and licensed real-estate agent in New Jersey. HEARING from page 1

Defense attorney Charles P. Mirarchi 3d was prepared to proceed with the hearing. The preliminary hearing was rescheduled for 9 a.m. June 23 in Room 306 of the Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert St. Felton, 31, is charged with murder and possession of an instrument of crime. He is accused of stabbing Chanel inside an abandoned home in the 2200 block of Ingersoll

Aguiar said Bernheisel took on real estate and mortgage clients that others had turned away, as he sought to help others however he could. “Scott was the most caring person you would encounter,” Aguiar said. “He would rather go without eating than know someone else had no food. Even with as little as he had, he took the time to give food and money to those less fortunate than he, always giving money to the homeless on the street or buying them a bite to eat. Very few people have the love and compassion for humanity that Scott had.” Funeral arrangements are being handled by Parsels Funeral Home in Absecon, N.J., but a date had not been announced as of presstime. “It’s heartbreaking to know that his life ended how it did because Scott was the sweetest, most gentle soul,” Aguiar said. “He wouldn’t hurt anyone and truly believed that if people just took the time to talk things through, problems could be resolved. Evidently, whoever he was with in his last moments disagreed.” Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Simpkins at 610-521-3830 or Sgt. Bill Gordon at 610-891-4703. n Street in North Philadelphia. Chanel was stabbed twice in the back and once in the neck. According to police, Felton and Chanel knew one another and lived in the abandoned house with two other transgender women, one of whom was Felton’s partner. The stabbing took place in a third-floor bedroom after an argument that police said may have arisen from a domestic dispute. n

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

EXHIBIT from page 1

4 from 1965-69 in front of Independence Hall, among the first protests for LGBT equality in the nation. The Reminder Days are considered the precursor to the Stonewall Riot in New York City. “William Way has a commitment to celebrating our history,” Bartlett said. “This exhibit finds the right balance between the seriousness of the subject matter and the lightness of the storytelling that allows it to be enjoyed by everyone.” “Speaking Out” is a collaborative effort between the NCC and the William Way LGBT Community Center, which began about two years ago. NCC Chief Operating Officer Vince Stango was among those responsible for taking the idea from concept to execution. “Along with my colleagues, our CEO and the exhibition team, we chose the title, marketing plan and have been involved at every level of production,” Stango said. “From the standpoint of the NCC, I also worked to incorporate the constitutional lens into the original concept.” Stango said “Speaking Out” did not present any obstacles that were different from other exhibitions they produce, but noted it is always challenging to tell a constitutional story, rather than a political one. “It was fun, exciting and challenging to work with [William Way executive

director] Chris [Bartlett] and his team to take an exhibit that began solely focused on the demonstrations in ’65 and weave in the courts and what the Constitution had to say about it,” Stango said. Exhibition highlights include a section showing how gay men and women were once considered mentally ill, another that depicts how the media has portrayed the LGBT community over the years and videos containing original footage of the Annual Reminder demonstrations. “I hope that visitors understand that over the past 50 years, from 1965 to today, there has been a conversation happening — sometimes civil, sometimes not,” Stango said. “But that the Constitution has been a guidepost for how we navigate this conversation.” The exhibition is particularly timely given the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges later this month, in which a landmark ruling in favor of marriage equality is expected. “We had no idea two years ago that the exhibit would open within weeks of such a monumental decision,” Stango said. “But I hope that this multi-layered exhibit can help explain why the Supreme Court thinks the way it does to a diverse audience — gay and straight alike.” The 50th-anniversary celebration will take place July 2-5. For more information about the exhibit, visit www.constitutioncenter. org. n

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PGN OUT LAW from page 12

their story gains more press. Judges can now rely on marriage equality in their respective states to dissolve the adoptions, allowing LGBTQ individuals to enter into a marital union. While past legal maneuvering has been helpful to some, it has also hurt the LGBTQ community emotionally and psychologically by further degrading us and delegitimizing our true and authentic relationships to one another. Hopefully by the end of the month we’ll see an end to a need for “creative lawyering” forever because we’ll finally be deemed equal citizens under the law, nationwide. n Angela D. Giampolo, principal of Giampolo Law Group, maintains offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and specializes in LGBT law, family law, business law, real-estate law and civil rights. Her website is www.giampololaw.com and she maintains a blog at www.phillygaylawyer. com. Reach out to Angela with your legal questions at 215-645-2415 or angela@ giampololaw.com. INTERNATIONAL from page 15

India appoints first trans head of college India has for the first time appointed a transgender individual as the principal of a women’s college. Manabi Banerjee will head the Krishnagar Women’s College in the Eastern Indian state of West Bengal. According to local officials, Banerjee is expected to start her new job June 9. India’s transgender activists have hailed the decision as a proud day for the community that often faces discrimination. Last year, India’s Supreme Court declared the transgender community as a legal third gender, granting minority rights and privileges to education, employment and health benefits.

Gay-rights activists clash with foes in Moscow Police in the Russian capital of Moscow have detained 15 people after a clash broke out between LGBT-rights advocates and opponents. A small group of activists tried to hold an unauthorized demonstration in support of gay rights outside the mayor’s office on May 30. But opponents fought with them and police detained people from both sides. There was no immediate word on whether any of those detained would be charged. Animosity toward LGBT people is high in Russia. Authorities routinely deny permission to hold LGBT-rights demonstrations on the grounds of maintaining public order and avoiding violence. n — compiled by Larry Nichols

PGN PANEL from page 5

for access to an existing right. Eastman said that, if the purpose of marriage is to foster the love and commitment of the relationship, then it would be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause to deny marriage to same-sex couple; however, he aruged, marriage has a different purpose, centered on “this unique biological complementarity that brings men and women together for the purpose of producing children that are the result of that union.” Wolfson disputed the notion that procreation is at the root of the institution. “People marry for many reasons and we do not have the government dictating to you why you married the person you love and what your marriage needs to be about,” he told Eastman. “For many people, marriage is about raising children — whether

NEWS BRIEFING from page 2

Office gave PGN a dispatch record that appears to be related to Skala’s vehicle stop. But affidavits from the office didn’t clarify whether the record is complete or redacted. “Officer Skala’s vehicle stop is a major component of the Nizah Morris incident,” PGN stated in court papers. “It affected the city’s response to Ms. Morris, and it played a significant role in the lack of a prompt criminal investigation. It’s in the public interest to have accountability and transparency in the Morris case, including full access to all dispatch records relating to Officer Skala’s vehicle stop.”

Deadline set in trans-bias case Last month, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Department of Justice has until July 21 to decide whether to intervene in the Kate Blatt case. Blatt, a Pottsville trans woman, is suing Cabela’s Retail Inc. for job discrimination. She claims Cabela’s discriminated against her on the basis of her disability — gender dysphoria — by denying her access to a female restroom. Part of Blatt’s federal lawsuit challenges the Americans with Disabilities Act’s exclusion of gender-identity disorder as a protected disability. Blatt contends that Congress acted unconstitutionally in 1989 when it excluded GID as a protected disability under the ADA. In court papers, the DOJ indicated it may intervene in Blatt’s case but said it needs more time before making a final decision. On May 15, U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. gave the DOJ until July 21 to decide whether to intervene in the case. Cabela’s is located in Hamburg and specializes in outdoor sports items. Blatt worked there as a seasonal stocker between

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

they are gay or not gay — and for many chose to do that,” he said. “What we’re asking for here is the same thing. The question people it is not about raising kids at all.” ought to be up In his closing state- “People marry for many reasons to the voters.” ment, Eastman In his argued that, and we do not have the governfinal remarks, u l t i m a t e l y , ment dictating to you why you Yo s h i m a the decision emphasized on marriage married the person you love and how equal equality should what your marriage needs to be protection be left to the under the law about. For many people, marpublic. allowed him “In 2012, riage is about raising children — to create a life the European for his famConvention of whether they are gay or not gay ily that many Human Rights LGBT — and for many people it is not other said that their people are c o n s t i t u - about raising kids at all.” deprived of. tion does not “At the time require members of state governments to when I came out, I was extremely fortunate grant same-sex couples the access to mar- that sodomy laws were gone and that I riage, and yet, just last week, Ireland voters would no longer be deemed a criminal for

engaging in sexual conduct with someone of the same sex. By the time I met the man who I made a lifelong commitment to, it was possible to marry him in the state of Connecticut. And by the time we decided we wanted children, surrogacy laws and adoption laws made it possible for us to welcome first a daughter and then a son into the world,” he said. “Whenever I hear my opposition make arguments about how this is just the selfish desires of adults or that we are radically changing the definition of marriage, I always think back to my husband and to my children. We can stop living under the equal-protection law and finally, as lesbian and gay couples, live up to it.” SCOTUS is expected to deliver its ruling by the end of the month in Obergefell vs. Hodges, the case that could give all samesex couples across the nation the freedom to marry. n

September 2006-March 2007. The ADA protects people with disabilities from discrimination in private employment, public accommodations and governmental services.

reach efforts. For more information, lgbteadances@gmail.com.

Colorado man to be deposed in Scouts case Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Mark I. Bernstein last week allowed a local woman who’s suing the Boy Scouts of America to obtain the deposition of a former high-ranking BSA official. Paul Beauregard, former president of the BSA Chester County Council, must undergo a deposition in the lawsuit of Patricia Evasew, the judge ordered. Evasew filed suit against the BSA council in 2013, claiming her son, Thomas, committed suicide after being molested by a former scoutmaster at the council, Charles Morris. Morris denies the allegations. Evasew contends Beauregard has information that’s pertinent to her lawsuit. But attorneys for the BSA council claim she’s on a “fishing expedition,” and tried to sharply limit the deposition. On May 26, during a brief court proceeding, Bernstein ruled in favor of Evasew. Her attorneys say they’ll travel to Colorado to take Beauregard’s deposition in the near future. “The family of Thomas Evasew and I are pleased with the court’s rulings,” said Joshua B. Schwartz, an attorney for Evasew. Attorneys for the BSA council had no comment for this update. — Timothy Cwiek

Panel explores women’s health Join Lifecycle WomanCare, formerly the Birth Center, for its first-ever breakfast

panel symposium on women’s health. The State of Women’s Health program will take place 8-10:30 a.m. June 10 at the Union League of Philadelphia, 140 S. Broad St. Individual tickets are $60. The event will feature discussions on both policy and practice. Panelists include several leaders in the health and socialwork fields, with a keynote by Dr. Rachel Levine, acting Pennsylvania Physician General and the highest-ranking transgender woman to hold public office in the state. Topics will cover issues such as health disparities, maternity and lactation care, LGBT interests, integrative health, aging and end-of-life issues, domestic violence and more. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.lifecylewomancare.org.

Phoenixville tea dance becomes nonprofit Kick off your summer with a fundraising LGBT dance party in the greater Phoenixville area. Originally created as an informal social gathering for LGBTs in the area, the LGBTea Dances is now a full-blown nonprofit organization. Come celebrate its inaugural event as a 501(c)3 from 4-8 p.m. June 7 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Exton. “Our original idea was to form a social group, a place for the LGBT community to come together in a safe and supportive environment,” said LGBTea Dances board president Rachel Stevenson. “But, the group grew fast, from 50 attendees to 100 in just a month, and our purpose expanded to meet the need.” The community-wide event will feature music, dancing, dinner buffet and dessert, silent auctions, 50/50 raffles and more. Proceeds from the event will benefit LGBT education programs, GSA clubs, local Pride parades and community-out-

Affordable-art fundraiser returns InLiquid’s 16th-annual Art for the Cash Poor party and fundraiser returns on Pride weekend. The art- and music-packed event will take place noon-6 p.m. June 13-14 at Crane Arts, 1400 N. American St. The two-day art sale features more than 100 artists, with all pieces under $199, as well as music, beer and food trucks. A special preview party of the event benefiting AIDS Fund will take place 5:30-9 p.m. June 12, giving art fans first access to the sale Tickets are $30 in advance, $40 at the door or $120 for groups of five. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.inliquid.org. — Ryan Kasley

Visitors Center explores LGBT history The Independence Visitor Center will mark Pride month with its annual LGBT history presentation this weekend. At 2 p.m. June 5-7, a park ranger and officials from William Way LGBT Community Center will present a free slide program about the LGBT-rights movement’s Philadelphia roots. The program will highlight the Annual Reminder Days, one of the nation’s earliest LGBTrights demonstrations, held 1965-69 outside Independence Hall celebrating their 50th anniversary next month. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation. n — Jen Colletta

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

PGN recently won eleven awards from the Local Media Association 2014 Editorial Contest Best Arts & Entertainment Writing, Honorable Mention Runaways Singer To Perform in Philly Community Service Award, Third Place Best Special Section, Second Place World AIDS Day Supplement Best Opinion Column, Second Place Mark My Words Best Breaking News Story, First Place Pennsylvania says ‘I Do’ Best Local Election Coverage, Second Place Phildelphia 2014 Primary Election

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Proud recipient of these 2015 PA Newsmedia Association’s Keystone Press Awards Scott A. Drake

2nd place—Sports Photo: “Crash Landing”

Jen Colletta

Honorable mention—Series: “After prison, one-half of ‘gay-porn twins’ speaks out”

Staff

Honorable mention—Special Project: LGBTQ Youth Supplement

Best Front Page, Second Place Best Non-Page One Layout, Second Place Arts & Culture Feature Story Best Coverage Life Under 30, First Place LGBTQ Youth Supplement Best Arts & Entertainment Feature Writing, Second Place Meshell Ndegeocello’s New Album Burns Bright Best Breaking News Story, Honarable Mention PA Treasurer Enters Marriage Fray

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Cartoons Family Portrait Get Out and Play Out & About Q Puzzle Scene in Philly

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33 31 32 36 38 29

Superstar saxophonist opens for Manilow on summer tour By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com Dave Koz is hitting the road this summer as the opening act for Barry Manilow’s “One Last Time Tour,” which rolls through Philadelphia June 13. The out saxophonist and jazz superstar has worked with Manilow numerous times over the course of his career but said he is still honored to be tapped by the legendary performer for this trek. “We started with him as his opening act last year,” Koz said. “We did a run for about two weeks in Europe and the United Kingdom. It went so well that he invited me to do a series of shows in the United States. We’ve been good friends for a very long time, probably 20 years, and we’ve done a lot of stuff together — whether it’s his albums or tours or my albums. But I’ve never been asked to be his opening act, which is a big honor and I’m having the time of my life. He’s one of my mentors. I’ve learned so much from him. Also just being embraced by his fans — who don’t need to embrace me because I’m the opening act and kind of in the way — is really nice.” Manilow fans, often referred to as “Fanilows,” can be an intense and devoted crowd. But Koz said he enjoys the freedom that being the opening act provides. “It’s a fine line,” he said about opening for a superstar like Manilow. “For the vast majority of people, this is an introduction. Who am I and what do I want to share with these people? Even though I’ve been around for 25 years, chances are, you are seeing me for the first time. It’s a freeing experience for someone like me who

has been a headliner for years. I haven’t really opened for somebody in many years, probably 20 years. To put that hat on has been freeing as an artist. I don’t have to carry the show. My job is to entertain people and put them in a good mood to enjoy their favorite artist. It takes the ego out of it. All I want is to put them is a good mood for Barry. So I go out there every night with that thought in my head and my band and I just try and do whatever we can to get them excited so that when Barry comes out he feels that great energy. It’s a lot of fun for me.”

For the last two summers, Koz has taken to the road in support of his successful “Summer Horns,” featuring a number of fellow saxophone luminaries covering jazz, soul and funk classics. Once the Manilow tour wraps up later this month, Koz will hit the road again to headline a new lineup that includes trumpeter

Rick Braun and R&B vocalist Kenny Lattimore. In July, he’s releasing a CD celebrating his 25 years in the industry, which highlights the artists he’s worked with over the years. “It’s got collaborations from my past, like Luther Vandross, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow. There are three new collaborations as well: Rick Braun and Kenny Lattimore did a song together to celebrate our tour this summer, and there’s a song I did for my nieces to get them off my back. They are huge ‘Frozen’ fans so they asked me to record an instrumental version of ‘Let It Go,’ which I did and I fell in love with that song. It’s a chance to celebrate 25 years because I never thought it would happen.” Even after 25 years in the business, Koz said there is a long list of acts he would still like to work with. And, the least likely the artists, the more he wants to work with them. “I’m game for anything,” he said. “At this point in my life it’s all gravy. The more ‘scratch-yourhead’ the situation, the better — maybe not a young pop act, but I’d welcome to chance to make music with someone like Snoop Dogg because I can’t imagine the two of us in the same room. That’s the kind of stuff that I crave and relish wherever possible. The thing with music is it has this ability to bring people together. There is some energy attached to music that allows people to soften so the differences start to melt away. Through music, people can have communication and collaboration that you wouldn’t think possible. I’ve seen it over and over in my life. I see most of it when I go out of the country and collaborate with musicians who are from foreign countries because now you’re talking about big cultural differences. And yet, there is always PAGE 26 some way to

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

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KOZ from page 25

communicate together. It’s a beautiful thing.” Koz also said he finds that international audiences tend to be more into jazz and instrumental music across the board than American audiences. “I just got back from three weeks in Asia, Japan, China and Indonesia, and I will admit that there are a lot of younger fans there, really young fans in China because the saxophone is really popular there,” he said. “In one of the cities, they organized, kind of in my honor, the largest grouping of saxophonists on the planet. There were almost 2,000 saxophone players and they were all kids. I think instrumental music tends to be more popular outside of the United States. There’s not a way to expose young people to it as much here. There’s a lot of EDM [electronic dance music], which is instrumental. It’s a cultural thing you find more people out-

side of the United States who are more interested in the music.” Once the summer is over, Koz said, he has a number of recording projects bouncing around in his head. “I would like to make another ‘Summer Horns’ album,” he said. “It was such a fun project to do, specifically the music — this music that I grew up listening to ,like Earth Wind & Fire, Tower of Power. It made me the musician that I am. I have a lot of different ideas in my head but one day, hopefully, I’d like to make a super-romantic, lush, orchestral album for alto saxophone. Doing more romantic ballads with an orchestra is something I’d like to do. It’s a big, long list.” n Barry Manilow with special guest Dave Koz perform 7:30 p.m. June 13 at Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St. For more information or tickets, visit davekoz.com or call 215-389-9543.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

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PGN recently won ﬁve SPJ Keystone Spotlight Awards. First Place Scott A. Drake Photo-Story – Philly Pride 2014 Jen Colletta, Angela Thomas, Scott Drake and Sean Dorn Spot New Story – Pennsylvania says ‘I do’ Second Place Jen Colletta Editorial Writing Jen Colletta and Sarah Blazucki Spot News Story – City mourns LGBT director Gloria Casarez Third Place Mark Segal Commentary – Mark My Words

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Family Portrait

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

Suzi Nash

Klayton Fennell: Broadcasting equality from Philly’s tallest tower We’ve come a long way from the time when people would keep fake fiancé photos on their desks to hide their sexuality, or when being out or outed at work could mean career suicide. Just ask Klayton Fennell, senior vice president of government affairs for Comcast, a company that was given a 100-percent rating by the Human Rights Campaign. In addition to his title, Fennell serves as Comcast’s key contact with LGBT advocacy organizations, on Comcast’s Internal Diversity Council and is an Executive Champion for Comcast’s LGBT employee resource group, OUT@ Comcast. He has also served on the boards of GLAAD and the Stonewall National Museum and Archives. PGN: Fennell’s an unusual name. What’s the origin? KF: I hear it’s Irish/Scotch, but I also hear it’s French. Interestingly, my grandfather spelled his name “Fennell” but all of his brothers and sisters spelled the name “Fennelle.” So I have aunts and uncles and cousins who spell their name differently. PGN: Oh wow! Where did you grow up? KF: I’m a Floridian: Jacksonville, Fla. PGN: If I remember correctly, Jacksonville is kind of Southern in its flavor. KF: Oh yeah, it’s essentially Southern Georgia. It’s the headquarters for the Southern Baptist Convention. PGN: What was it like growing up there? KF: It was difficult growing up as an LGBT person in Jacksonville during the ’70s and ’80s and even through college. All of my family is still in Jacksonville so when I go back to visit I’m pretty amazed at the brave people who live there and are open in their lifestyle. They even have a place where LGBT youth can gather, JASMYN; it was founded by a friend of mine who worked at Jacksonville Legal Aid. I’m pretty amazed at the strides that they have made, though I don’t ever see myself going back! PGN: What was a first sign you were gay? KF: I mean I knew early on, for all the stereotypical reasons. I like hanging out with girls more than guys, I related to them better. I remember in elementary school thinking the boys were cute but we were strong members of the Southern Baptist Church — we went to church on Wednesdays and three times a day on Sunday — so it wasn’t until college that I started to identify openly and began to talk and meet with others in the LGBT community. PGN: Any siblings? KF: I do, I have an Irish twin, so she’s 12 months older than I am.

PGN: What’s a fun college memory? KF: Jacksonville University is very wooded and my friends and I would break into the area where they had the rowing or crew hulls and take the boats out on the water, even though none of us had any rowing experience. We were on the St. John’s River one morning and a huge ship toting a whole bunch of Toyotas was fast approaching. We had to figure out pretty quick how to navigate back to shore! PGN: After Jacksonville? KF: I went to Florida State for law school. PGN: What made you choose that profession? KF: I knew that I wanted to create social change and being an attorney seemed the most obvious way to me. In Florida, you can start practicing in your second year of law school if you have a high-enough GPA and a sponsor. So in my second year, I began working with Jacksonville Legal Aid and started representing folks with AIDS as they were being illegally evicted, and I worked with migrant farm workers. I found out that the system wasn’t fair and thought there had to be a better way to make social change and to work within a system that’s broken. I finished and got my degree but decided I didn’t want to practice law. That was in ’96 and it was the year that the telecom law passed, which changed the telecommunications industry quite a bit. PGN: How so? KF: Historically, the telephone companies — the Southern Bells, the Southwest Bells, etc. — couldn’t compete with cable companies and cable companies couldn’t compete with telephone companies and long-distance companies couldn’t offer local service and vice versa. All of that changed at once. In college, I worked as a customer-service rep for AT&T and they invited me to come back and join their government-affairs department. And that’s how I got started. PGN: You mentioned social justice; were your parents involved with that? KF: Not really, my dad is kind of an artist. He has his own custom furniture, woodworking company. He’s somewhat of a perfectionist and did that for over 20 years. He’s also a pretty good guitarist so he does have somewhat of an artistic flair. My mom is a problem-solver; she worked at Mayo Clinic with folks who needed medical care but couldn’t afford it. She retired last year but retirement didn’t sit well with her, so now she’s in clown school! Today is actually the first day she’s working with other clowns. They’re entertaining in a retirement home.

PGN: That’s fabulous! So what extra-curricular things did you do when you were younger? KF: I was president of the student body from eighth grade up through my senior year. I was involved with a lot of public-interest associations and I was in band for a few years. PGN: What did you play? KF: Saxophone: alto, tenor and bass. PGN: Jumping ahead, how did you end up in Philly? KF: In 2000, I was working for a start-up company in Denver and got recruited by Comcast to come to Philadelphia. I worked on getting all the approvals we needed for the AT&T broadband deal and, at the end of it, they offered me the opportunity to run government affairs, PR and community investment in South Florida. So I was there for 10 years, but Florida is tough. My partner and I have been together for 16 years and we couldn’t have our union recognized

“Best Place to Work” with a 100-percent rating for the last three years from the Human Rights Campaign. We offer transgender-inclusive benefits and, even before the marriage rulings, we offered tax parity for domestic partners. From a customer standpoint, we strive to serve our LGBT customers with programming. You can go to Xfinity.com/LGBT and see a whole lot of online or on-demand programming with an LGBT theme. There’s also a news feed with LGBT items of interest and a way to connect with some of our national partners like the Task Force, PFLAG, etc. Even if you’re not a Comcast customer, you should check it out. It’s a great site. PGN: I understand your LGBT group does a lot of work outside the building as well. KF: Yes, we have a committed employee base who likes to be part of the communities that we serve and that’s true in all of the cities that we serve, not just Philadelphia. We do a lot of work with Mazzoni Center and The Attic and William Way. Once a year, all of our employees, families and friends come together for a day of volunteering and, for the last three years, we’ve had an LGBT Comcast Cares Day here in Philadelphia. We also have JDC, which Comcast started when they acquired NBC/Universal. It’s the Joint Diversity Advisory Counsel and we bring in civil-rights leaders from all different communities — LGBT, African-American, Native American, disabled communities, etc. — and ask them to help us to make sure we’re the best we can be on governance and employee issues, programming, procurement, you name it. I’m the LGBT liaison.

PGN: What do you think the role of a business or businessperson is in the LGBT community? KF: I never had the chance Photo: Scott A. Drake not to be out at work. I always self-identified so in marriage or even a domestic partnership. that it was not something people could hold over or against me in a way that I Adoption was banned and I was ready for didn’t know about. I just thought being the next move, so I spoke to Comcast and transparent was best from the start. I think they offered me a promotion in Philly. So an LGBT business leader owes the busihere I am! ness that they run or work for advice on how to connect with the community that it PGN: What are some of the things that serves. We have a special insight about our Comcast is doing for diversity? community and how it is often overlooked. KF: From an employee perspective, I’m I think we have an proud to say that we’ve been rated as a PAGE 38

SPORTS PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

AC ul t ure rts

Because Life is More Than Just Gay News Nightlife, Concerts, Art Exhibits, Readings, Cabaret, Film Reviews, Theater Reviews, Food Reviews, Book Reviews, Music Reviews, Sports and Travel

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Get Out and Play

Scott A. Drake

Biking shifts into high gear I bike. A lot. When the weather coopWho’s game? Contact me at erates, it is my singular mode of transscottdrakephotos@gmail.com or scott@ portation. I arrive and depart events via epgn.com if interested. bicycle, run errands, peddle to sporting events and travel hither and yon on my Proud feet two-wheeler. No parking charges, no After Nike’s success last year with its additional insurance, low maintenance. #BeTrue collection of LGBTQ sneakers I post occasionally about the bike in a variety of rainbow-inspired designs, being in the shop, like it is as I write this. Adidas has jumped into the fray with its Sometimes, I get into “conversations” own limited-edition “Pride Pack” of two with others of cyclists vs. pedestrians vs. sneakers and an adilette Slide. The shoes motorists. I say “conversations” because are slated for a June 6 release and, like it is nothing like an exchange of ideas at Nike, the shoes will be available only in all. I can relate to all points of view; I am select stores. in each of these roles at various times. I The premier shoe of the three is the would like to think that some day we can redesigned Stan Smith, the Adidas’ flagshare the road respectfully, but I have a ship shoe that first went into production tendency to live in my own fantasyland. in 1965. With the colorful update, it is Fortunately for us, Mayor Nutter has meant to commemorate the first LGBT been (at the very least) a strong advocate of bikers and biking, a testament to the large increases in bike lanes the past couple of years and the new bike share that began last month. It’s not all rainbows and roses at the moment, but things are certainly improving. Every time I see a blue rent-a-biker, I silently cheer for another user. Then I cringe when they go the wrong way on a one-way or almost hit a pedestrian. ADiDAS’ STAN SMiTH, UPDATED FOR THE ANNiVERSARy I’ve also enjoyed OF THE FiRST GAy DEMONSTRATiONS biking on West River pickets held at Independence Hall in Drive along the Schuylkill River the past Philadelphia on July 4, 1965. couple of years on those weekend mornAdidas will donate a portion of the ings when it is closed for recreational shoe proceeds to New Avenues for Youth, use. It’s a nice feeling, being out cruising an organization geared toward assisting without having to dodge car doors flying open in front of me, amongst other obsta- homeless youth. cles. My personal pet peeve isn’t even Short stops drivers — though I could write an entire • Out with Soul is on June 26. Join your book on them; it is the runners. fellow indoor-football fans for a rousing Has anyone ever seen a figure of a pergame against Tampa Bay Storm. A porson running painted in the bike lane? No, tion of the proceeds goes to the sports me either. Which is why I’m getting a organization You Can Play. sports air horn to take along. Follow me • Feel like running on Saturday mornon Facebook for photos of runners jumpings but can’t always find a partner? Join ing out of their freshly stained pants. the Frontrunners at 9:30 a.m. in front of So here’s a question: Would anyone Lloyd Hall on Boathouse Row for the run be interested in a biking group? I have and then some socializing. no concrete ideas about the whens or • Registration is now open for the wheres — don’t even know they’re necPhiladelphia Open tennis tournament. essary at this early idea phase — I just More information is on Facebook under know that there are times I would like to The Philadelphia Open — a GLTA Event. bike with others. To that end, very soon Tournament dates are July 24-26. n I will be biking up to take photos of the Frontrunners on a Saturday morning (see Let everyone know when you’re playing, Short Stops, if you’re more interested in what you’re playing and what team you the running) and then doing my own bike trip up to Falls Bridge and back. play for: Email scott@epgn.com.

STAGE PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

The Boys and the Yard(bird) By A.D. Amorosi PGN Contributor Charlie Parker may have died in 1955, but his music is no less innovative nor his life any less than operatic — with its tragic, wasted genius, obsessive desire to be ruled by (and violent to) women and bouts with racism, drug addiction and selfdoubt. If that life ain’t worth an opera, no one’s is. Opera Company of Philadelphia will present the world premiere of Parker’s “Yardbird” this weekend, with bel canto tenor Lawrence Brownlee as the famed saxophonist; soprano Angela Brown as his mother, Addie; and baritone Will Liverman as his pal Dizzy Gillespie. What you might not get a chance to hear (unless Brownlee or Liverman break a leg or bust a pipe) is tenor Joshua Stewart and baritone Jamez McCorkle. Both Opera Philadelphia vocalists who made a huge sonic splash at last month’s “Taste of Opera” preview event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are cover singers — Stewart for Brownlee and McCorkle for Liverman. Both singing/acting gentlemen also happen to be gay. When it comes to 28-year-old, New Orleans-born Stewart, he didn’t get to opera through love of the genre. “I thought opera was boring and was totally against everything, besides technique, that I was being taught at my arts high school. The only reason I was there was to ‘get a classical technique’ and go back to jazz,” Stewart said. “My mother said I sang before I could speak. Jazz became my first musical language and then classical. Jazz will forever be my, what the Germans call, ‘herzblut.’” Stewart found his voice early — in the home — when, as a child, he was mistaken for his mother when answering the phone. “I’ve always sung high easily, but secretly I’ve always wanted to be a bass,” he said. “Maybe that’s why I speak so low now.” Ask Stewart how he got to Opera Philadelphia and he uses the always-corny (but still funny) line, “The same way you get to Carnegie Hall: Practice, practice, practice,” as he wound up at OP after seven years of Curtis Institute of Music study. Like McCorkle, Stewart gets that opera is yeoman’s work, especially considering his role in “Yardbird’s” cover cast — a small, tight crew of singers who know every nuance of the opera, as they must be prepared to fill in at any moment. “It’s like sitting on the bench waiting to get called in to the game. You literally can’t miss a beat,” Stewart said of being Brownlee’s shadow. “We’re always there watching and learning the staging, but also the meaning behind every movement.” Like Stewart, 25-year-old McCorkle — also originally from NoLa and also a student at Curtis — is part of the cover trio ready, willing and able at all times to jump in for their assigned leads.

tion of ‘Total Eclipse’ by Handel his senior year. After hearing it, I went to the voice teacher at my arts high school, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, and asked her for the music,” he said. “I remember her looking at me puzzled as to ‘what in the world was this pianist going to do with it?’” He took it home, learned it, sang for her the next day and, on Nov. 20, 2006, said he “officially” became a singer. Isolation is a common theme many opera singers experience, Joshua Stewart (FROM LEFT), Emily McCorkle said, and being gay POgorelc and Jamez McCorkle in the industry is still a dynamic he’s figuring out. “You know, everyone wants to be sing“For me and so many other ing on the main stage fresh out of the performers, opera is a release of stress, tenwomb, but I’ve come to learn as a young singer that you have to put in your dues,” McCorkle said. “It’s our duty as young singers to lift up each other around us and build up rapport with our colleagues. As Angela Brown told me, ‘Honey, your time will come.’ It means that we get to know the guys who are at the top of our field. Get to talk to them, go out for dinners, house parties and become friends along the way. It’s not every day you get to kick Lawrence Brownlee’s butt in ping pong.” Opera Philadelphia has become like family to McCorkle, a child-prodigy classical pianist who played with orchestras around the United States until one fateful family church session watching the choir director — Joshua Stewart — performing solo changed his mind. “He probably doesn’t even know that he was the one who inspired my interest in singing from hearing his beautiful rendi-

sion, sometimes even a way for us to deal with troubling situations in our personal lives through the characters. It can get a little intense. Singers tend to be a bit crazy in this way — I guess this would be a bad time to plug that I’m single?” he joked. “I’m not sure if I’ve been in the field long enough to have any definitive opinion on the difficulties of being gay and in opera. Personally, I haven’t felt any discernible discrimination. Ask me that question again in a few decades after I’ve been immensely successful.” Stewart agreed that his sexuality has yet to factor into his opera career. “With my being a healthy, tall black man at age 28, I’ve realized I have already beaten the odds. Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love and Opera Philadelphia is a shining example of that. They cast from the heart.” n

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

PGN

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PGN LISTINGS

Anna Crusis Choir celebrates 40th with new concert By Larry Nichols larry@epgn.com Anna Crusis Women’s Choir, the longest-running feminist chorus in the country, is bringing technology to the stage for its 40th-anniversary concert, “Reclaiming the ‘F’ Word,” running June 6-7. While audiences can take in the performance at International House Philadelphia, Miriam Davidson, the choir’s artistic director, said Anna Crusis will also use the Internet to reach new fans.

“We’re going to be live-streaming the concert using Concert Window, which is a platform that is used a lot for independent artists who have concerts to cut down on traveling,” Davidson said. “We thought it might be a very interesting thing to try to do with a choral concert. I don’t know of anybody who has attempted to do that. We like to try and reach audiences that might have a hard time getting to our shows, which is part of our mission — to get to populations

that might benefit from our performance but have trouble getting out. Instead of us going to them, we’re seeing if we can get it to them this way.” The concert will also take the audience through the history of the choir, which has been performing in the Delaware Valley since 1975. “We’re doing a big retrospective,” Davidson said. “We’re doing material from across the decades of our repertoire, as well as some new works. There will also be a photographic and video retrospective of the choir over the years.” Davidson said that, in its four decades, the choir has tried to stick to its roots of performing songs with a message. “We like to keep a lot of social-justice music in the forefront of out repertoire as well as continuing our work to promote work of women composers and work from little-heard composers that don’t have much of a venue for getting their work heard,” she said. “So that is something that has continued to stay with us since the beginning. We’re widening our scope, world-music wise, and trying to bring more of a contemporary feel also into the music that we’re doing.” n Anna Crusis Women’s Choir performs “Reclaiming the ‘F’ Word” 7:30 p.m. June 6 and 4 p.m. June 7 at International House Philadelphia, 3701 Chestnut St. For more information, call 215-387-5125 or visit www.annacrusis.com.

Eating Out Should Be Fun!

Read PGN’s food reviews every second and fourth week of the month - and check out our archive of past reviews on epgn.com.

A MUSICAL HOT SPOT: The underground dance clubs of 1950s Tennessee come to life on stage when Walnut Street Theatre presents the Tony Award-winning musical “Memphis.” The story of a radio DJ who wants to change the world and a club singer who is ready for her big break features an original score by Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan and runs through July 12, 825 Walnut St. For more information or tickets, call 215-574-3550.

Theater & Arts Adventures in Photography Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition featuring diverse works including rare early pictures and examples of the Pictorialist movement, through Aug. 20, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100. Aries Spears The comedian seen on “Mad TV” performs June 11-14 at Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St.; 215-496-9001. Clerks and Mallrats The Kevin Smith comedy films are screened beginning at 8 p.m. June 8 at the Trocadero Theatre, 1003 Arch St.; 215-922-6888. Dance: Movement, Rhythm, Spectacle Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhi-

bition of prints, drawings and photographs that celebrate the world of dance through Aug. 2, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100. Disney’s The Lion King The hit musical based on the classic tale is in town through June 14 at Kimmel’s Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St.; 215-7905847. En Blanco y Negro: Gay & Boricua GALAEI presents an exhibition and performance by Jose Luis Cortos, known for his black-and-white gauche paintings on newspaper, 5:30-8 p.m. June 12 at Taller Puertorriqueño, 2721 N. Fifth St.; 215-426-3311. I Love A Piano Walnut Street Theatre presents a production featuring the music of Irving Berlin through June 28 at Independence

Studio on 3, 825 Walnut St.; 215574-3550. Into Dust: Traces of the Fragile in Contemporary Art Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition that traces the distinctions between the corporeal and transcendental, emergence and decay, belonging and displacement, life and death, June 6-Oct. 25, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215763-8100. Kate Breakey: Small Deaths An exhibition of hand-colored, oversized images of the birds, flowers and insects that photographer Breakey has memorialized through her work, through July 12 at Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine St.; 215-3409800. Keigwin, Fonte, & Forsythe The Pennsylvania Ballet performs a new program June

11-14 at Kimmel’s Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St.; 215-893-1999. Murder for Two Philadelphia Theatre Company presents a new musical comedy about a small-town policeman thrust into a murder mystery June 6-28 at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St.; 215-9850420. Northern Lights: Scandinavian Design Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an exhibition surveying Scandinavian design from its triumphant showing at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris to the present day through Oct. 4, 26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100. Passion Arden Theatre Company presents a tale of love and obsession set in 19th-century Italy through June 28, 40 N. Second St.; 215-922-8900.

PGN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS LIVING THE DREAM: Out singer-songwriter Catie Curtis is on the road in support of her eclectic new album “Flying Dream,” infusing jazz and electronic elements into her acoustic, guitar-driven songs. Catch her when she performs 8 p.m. June 7 at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. For more information or tickets, call 215-222-1400.

Music Michael Franti & Spearhead The alt-rock/neosoul group performs 9 p.m. June 5 at the Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St.; 215627-1332. The B-52s The rock band performs 8 p.m. June 6 at Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave.; 215-572-7650. Fall Out Boy and Wiz Khalifa The rock band and the rapper team up to perform 7 p.m. June 10 at Susquehanna Bank Center, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden, N.J.; 609-365-1300. Femi Kuti The Afro-beat artist performs 8 p.m. June 10 at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St.; 215-222-1400. Taylor Swift The country-pop superstar performs June 12-13 at

Lincoln Financial Field, 1020 Pattison Ave.; 215-463-5500.

Nightlife Original Plumbing’s Philadelphia Trans Takeover A trans dance party, 10 p.m.-2 a.m. at The Bike Stop, 206 S. Quince St.; 215627-1662. Celebrate 3 Years Of Church! The monthly classic house party marks its third anniversary 6 p.m.-2 a.m. June 7 at Woody’s, 202 S. 13th St.; 215545-1893. Brittany Lynn’s Swinging ’70s Laugh A Go-Go! Sketch comedy, go-go boys and girls, live singing and more kick off Pride festivities 9 p.m. June 10 at Frankie Bradley’s, 1320 Chancellor St.; 215-7350735.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

PFS, Roxy present queer festival hits

Hotel California The Eagles tribute band performs 7:30 p.m. June 7 at By Gary M. Kramer Sellersville Theatre PGN Contributor 1894, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville; The Philadelphia Film Society is cele215-257-5808. brating Pride month by featuring a “Queer Cinema Now” program with five LGBT The Hills Have film screenings throughout June at the PFS Eyes Theater at the Roxy. The classic horror PFS education and programs director film is screened Allison Koehler and artistic director Michael 9:45 p.m. June 5 Lerman curated the series, which is part of at The Colonial the film society’s initiative, launched earlier Theatre, 227 Bridge this year, to “curate diverse programming,” St., Phoenixville; Koehler said in a recent phone interview. 610-917-1228. The Queer Cinema Now program worked well with the calendar, and the Roxy’s Lana Del Rey mission — “Our home, your theater” — The singer perKoehler noted. forms 8 p.m. June “As curators, we wanted 6 at the Borgata programming that speaks Hotel, Casino & to and reaches everyone in Spa Event Center, our community,” she said. 1 Borgata Way, As such, there were sevAtlantic City, N.J.; eral new films Koehler and 609-317-1000. Lerman wanted to feature Happy Bear that fit with LGBT Pride. The Trammps The bear-themed “We saw so much and The happy hour, 5-9 great queer cinema at the Stylistics Revue Toronto and Sundance film p.m., June 12 at The disco groups Tabu, 200 S. 12th festivals that we wanted perform 8 p.m. St.; 215-964-9675. to showcase it,” Koehler June 6 at the Rrazz explained, about developRoom, in The ing a program that focused Outta Ramada New Hope, on contemporary indepen6426 Lower York dent American and internaTown Road, New Hope; tional queer cinema. 888-596-1027. The first title, “Cut Snake,” screened Sharon Clark June 2. The Australian drama about an The singer perEddie Bruce ex-con (Sullivan Stapleton) who seeks out forms a salute to The singer peran old cellmate (Alex Russell) only to great female jazz forms a tribute to encounter trouble involving criminal activvocalists 8 p.m. great female vocal- ity and a drag queen in a gay bar, is, Koehler June 5 at the Rrazz ists 8 p.m. June 11 described, “a really intense movie.” Room, in The at the Rrazz Room, Koehler included a more “fun and celeRamada New Hope, in The Ramada bratory” Australian film for the June series, 6426 Lower York New Hope, 6426 a 35-mm revival screening of the clasRoad, New Hope; Lower York Road, sic 1994 comedy “The Adventures of 888-596-1027. New Hope; 888Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” June 4, 596-1027. hosted by Brittany Lynn. The film chroniEx Machina cles two drag queens (Guy Pearce and Hugo The sci-fi film Wanda Sykes Weaving) and a transsexual (the formidable about artificial The comedian per- Terence Stamp) on a trip through the outintelligence is forms June 12-13 back. screened 7 p.m. at the Borgata “All of our programming is meant to June 5 at The Hotel, Casino & be an extension of the fest, so some films Colonial Theatre, Spa Music Box, (“Tangerine” on June 25) are beating a 227 Bridge St., 1 Borgata Way, [July] theatrical release date to give audiPhoenixville; 610Atlantic City, N.J.; ences a sneak peek,” Koehler observed. 917-1228. 609-317-1000. n Other films, like the aforementioned “Cut Snake” and “The Summer of Sangaile” (June 11), a Lithuanian lesbian romance, may be the only opportunities for Philadelphia audiences to see these films, which get Send notices at least one week in extremely limited releases. advance to: “We are committed to bringing films Out & About Listings, PGN, 505 S. to the city, to present the best in world Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 cinema,” Koehler said. “There are tons fax: 215-925-6437; of art-house cinemas doing programming or e-mail: listings@epgn.com. year-round. It’s not only LGBT cinema, but Notices cannot be taken over the phone. a lot of these films stay within the festival circuit. Organizations like the Roxy, with a

Notices

year-round home, need that access. We want to attract an LGBT audience and show them something they wouldn’t have access to otherwise.” The remainder of the Queer Cinema Now program includes: “The Summer of Sangaile” (June 11). Lithuanian writer/director Alanté Kavaïté’s visually stunning drama is a coming-of-age romance about the vivacious Auste (Aiste Dirziute), who meets — and becomes besotted with — the shy, self-harming 17-yearold Sangaile (Julija Steponaityte) at a local air show. The young girls quickly develop an intense friendship, which begins with Sangaile modeling dresses Auste designs, and posing for photographs. Things soon turn erotic. “Weekend” (June 18). Before he made “Looking,” Andrew Haigh wrote and directed this excellent, intimate 2011 gay romance, which invites viewers to eavesdrop on the budding relationship between Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New). Meeting at a club, the guys spend the night together and then the next day, and the next night and the next day … The screening is in 35-mm. Closing out the program is Sean Baker’s funky comedy “Tangerine” (June 25; opening theatrically in Philly in July), about motor-mouthed transgender prostitute Sin-dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), who finds out from her BFF, Alexandra (Mya Taylor), that her boyfriend, Chester (James Ransome), cheated on her while she was in jail. As Sin-dee wanders Los Angeles on Christmas Eve trying to find Chester, Alexandra tries to focus on her performance that night. Baker shot the entire film on a few iPhones. “It’s been a strong year for LGBT cinema,” Koehler said. “We’re proud to showcase that and hope to do more than a one-off program, and include some LGBT films year-round. Finding first-run queer films to show has a lot to do with release date and if they are doing digital release at the same time. What we are testing with this program are films from the festival circuit. Hopefully everyone is as enthusiastic about them as we are and we can keep doing more programs like this.” n “Queer Cinema Now” unspools at the PFS Theater Roxy, 2023 Sansom St. The films on June 4, 11, 18 and 25 all start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $9 for seniors and students and $8 for PFS members. For more information, call 267-639-9508 or visit www. filmadelphia.org.

FUN & PGN GAMES

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

Q Puzzle Favorite Gay Things About Mad Max Across

1. Staff leader for Copland? 6. Plug extension 9. Egyptian vipers 13. Eurasian range 14. Diana of “The Avengers” 16. Madonna, in a creche 17. She plays Aunty Entity in “Mad Max” 19. Like every other number 20. “Move your ass!” 21. Like a flaming queen?

23. Washer cycle 24. “The rain in ___...” 25. Most queer 28. Vehicles that swing both ways? 31. Piecrust ingredient 32. It arouses soldiers in bed 33. Lizzie Borden used one 34. Rubberstamped 35. Material worn by “Mad Max” cops 37. Vardalos of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” 38. Actress Charlotte 39. Secretes nocturnally

40. “To Kill a Mockingbird” character 41. Stocking materials for queens? 43. High points 45. Dens of bears 46. Farm fare 47. Ruler with a vagina 49. Place for a fruit dessert 53. Skin moisturizer 54. Minimalist clothing worn in “Mad Max” 56. Position to fill 57. Fender nick 58. Oral performances 59. Lamarr of “Samson and Delilah”

PORTRAIT from page 31

obligation to be a mentor to others who are at the margins, whether it’s other LGBT people or other people who don’t always get the same opportunities to advance. And I think we have an obligation to help our companies see things from a different perspective. It used to be that executives had to have a certain look and way of presenting — at the time — himself, and you have the chance to test that and slowly change that perception of what an exec looks like. PGN: Being a role model is important. You never know whom you might affect. KF: That’s right. I’m 44 and I didn’t have a lot of gay mentors. So many in the generation above me who could have been dead with the AIDS crisis. So women have been the ones to have an impact on me, both personally and professionally. I believe you have to pay it forward and make way for others. PGN: Nice. Are we getting to keep you here in Philly? KF: I think so. We’ve been here for threeand-a-half years and my husband Val’s really enjoying it too. He is the chair of drafting and design at ITT and he has his own interior-design clients. And I work here at the mothership with one heck of a view! PGN: What do you do outside of work? KF: I love, love, love to garden. I enjoy doing art and I love cooking … a little too much. I’ve started doing guided meditation too. PGN: Proudest business honor or achievement? KF: I’m proud of this [picks up very official-looking document with “Supreme Court” stamped across the top]. Comcast was one of the employers who supported marriage equality in the last Supreme Court brief. When I first joined Comcast in 2000, I asked about domestic partnerships and

60. Writer Harper 61. Back to the present

Down

1. Balls 2. Lit ___ 3. Nathan of “The Producers” 4. Rolled by 5. Lens settings for Mapplethorpe 6. Utah’s Hatch 7. Navel fetish accessory? 8. Tree rings indication 9. Aviator Earhart 10. Leader of a tribe of children in “Mad Max” 11. Honest Abe, for one 12. Auld lang

___ 15. Fight handto-hand 18. Hand, when measuring a stallion 22. Cotton compressor 24. Love-making sounds 25. Prayer start at Metropolitan Community Church 26. Senegal’s capital 27. Magistrate of Bartertown in “Mad Max” 28. Top targets 29. Send to Siberia 30. Elite divers 32. Attempts to seduce 35. Pinko’s hero 36. City hue

honestly I thought my offer was going to get rescinded. We were nowhere near the size we are now, there weren’t many open LGBT employees, they just hadn’t dealt with the subject. So to see them supporting LGBT marriage in such an official capacity, affirmatively expressing the business case for marriage equality, was a proud moment for me. To see us adopting the practices and policies that got us that 100-percent rating also makes me proud. PGN: Proudest personal honor or achievement? KF: We raised my husband’s nephew from the time that he was 12 until he was 17. He was being reared in Grand Junction, Colo., and he was different and having a hard time so they — assuming he was gay — sent him to live with his gay uncles. He was an amazing kid but never really felt like he fit in or was connected to who he was as a person. When he turned 18, he moved to L.A. and began to live life as a woman. Last year, I flew out to see her and she’s such a beautiful woman. I offered an apology that, of all people, I hadn’t recognized her struggle and wasn’t really there for her. [Tears up.] She just thanked me for being there for her and doing the best that I could. To feel that acceptance and love from somebody who’d been through so much … it was pretty amazing. I know some folks may have expected me to say my proudest moment should be when I got married, or the first time that someone accepted my husband or me, when someone told me I somehow made a difference, when I graduated law school or when I got promoted — but for my husband and me, there is such pride and emotion we have for the child who came to live with us. We’ve accompanied Carmen back to Grand Junction and we make sure we’re there at every family event to be a support. It’s been wonderful to find that folks are better than you think they’ll be. I’m so proud that she continues to grow and enrich our family and others around her.

in Oz 40. Disapprove of 42. Homosexuality? 43. Obi-Wan player 44. Tulip tree, e.g. 46. Barely burn 47. Possible STD symptom 48. Woods of “Legally Blonde” 49. Box material in “Six Feet Under” 50. “Take a crack ___” 51. Adverb for seamen 52. Canadian oil company 55. Lubricant

PGN: I’m sure you being open and proud made a huge difference for her. Tell me a little more about your husband. Who proposed to whom? KF: OK. Originally, he proposed, 16 years ago, but when the court order came out in Jersey, where we live now, we ran down that day and got the paperwork, just in case the governor took some action against it, and were married later that week. We live in a small town in the Pine Barrens called Shamong, so I called the clerk in advance to make sure she knew about the ruling. My sister got ordained online and flew up from Jacksonville to do the ceremony. I had my mentor, Sheila Willards, and Mark Segal as witnesses and we were married on our back porch with all of our dogs. PGN: One of my holiday traditions is to go to the Wanamaker Building to see the light show and then Christmas Village and, now, the video wall at Comcast. What’s a holiday tradition for you? KF: When my and Val’s nieces and nephews turned about 13, we would teach the kids a great recipe that they could cook. Their parents would come over and we’d have a fun night with the kids doing the cooking. PGN: I love that, I might steal it! Who would you pick as your straight mate? KF: Oh boy, that’s so far out of my … On the Kinsey scale, I’m about a 10. Um, I’d say Ellen DeGeneres. I like people who can make me laugh. PGN: A favorite fictional hero? KF: Captain Piccard from “Star Trek: Next Generation.” PGN: Why should we be glad about GLAAD? KF: Growing up I didn’t really see any gay characters on TV other than Paul Lynde as center square on “Hollywood

Squares” and he didn’t really identify openly as gay. Now, there are numerous LGBT characters across the board. I’m not on the board anymore but I’m proud of the work they’re doing. They’ve become more than just a watchdog; they’re counselors to the media on how to appropriately and sensitively address things. PGN: I saw that you were on the board of the Stonewall National Museum and Archives. Why do you think it’s so important to preserve our history? KF: As I mentioned before, we lost a whole generation of people during the AIDS crisis and we have to rely on friends and family to tell their stories. And then, some of our pioneers are passing so I think it’s really important to capture that history and digitize it and share it. The more that we share, the easier we make it for youth who are trying to identify who they are or think that they’re different. It helps them to realize that there were people who came before them that fought very hard to make sure that they received equal treatment, respect and social inclusion. It’s an important story to tell. n To suggest a community member for Family Portrait, email portraits05@aol.com.

PGN

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

Classifieds All real-estate advertising is subject to Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act), as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability). PGN will not knowingly accept any realestate advertising that is in violation of any applicable law.

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

Real Estate Sale

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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

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Men Delco Dudes A men’s social and support group meets 7-9 p.m. the first and third Wednesday of the month at Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County, 145 W. Rose Tree Road in Media; delco.dudes@uucdc.org. Gay Married Men’s Association Meets 7-9 p.m. the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.; www. gammaphilly.com. Men of All Colors Together Meets 7:30 p.m. the third Friday of the month, September through June, at William Way; 610-277-6595, www.MACTPhila.org. Men’s Coming Out Group, N.J. Meets 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays at The Pride Center of New Jersey; njwarrior@aol.com. Men of Color United A discussion/support group for gay and bisexual men of color meets 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays at 1207 Chestnut St., third floor; 215-496-0330.

Parents/Families Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Bucks County Meets 7:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at Penns Park United Methodist Church, 2394 Second Street Pike, Penns Park, and hird Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Warminster UCC, 785 Street Road; 215-348-9976. PFLAG/Chester County Meets 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at the Unitarian Fellowship of West Chester, 501 S. High St.; 484-354-2448. PFLAG/Collingswood, N.J. Meets 6:30-9 p.m. the fourth Monday of the month at Collingswood Public Library, 771 Haddon Ave.; 609-202-4622, pflagcollingswood@yahoo.com. PFLAG/Media Meets 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of every month at the Unitarian Universal Church, 145 Rose Tree Rd.; 610-368-2021. PFLAG/Philadelphia Meets 2-5 p.m. the third Sunday of the month at the LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania, 3907 Spruce St.; 215-572-1833. PFLAG/Princeton, N.J. Meets 7:30 p.m. the second Monday of the month in the George Thomas Room at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer St.; 609-683-5155. PFLAG/Wilmington, Del. Meets 7-9 p.m. the second Thursday of the month at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1502 W. 13th St.; 302-654-2995. Philadelphia Family Pride Advocacy, support and social network for LGBT families offers play groups, monthly kids and teen talk groups, activities and outings. Planning meetings held monthly; 215-600-2864, info@ phillyfamilypride.org, www. phillyfamilypride.org.

Trans Evolutions A drop-in support group for anyone on the transgender spectrum meets 6 p.m. Thursdays at 21 S. 12th St., eighth floor; 215-563-0652 ext. 235.

Mazzoni Center Family and Community Medicine Primary health care and specialized transgender services in a safe, professional, nonjudgmental environment, 809 Locust St.; 215563-0658. T-MAN People-of-color support group for transmen, FTMs, butches, studs, aggressives, bois, genderqueer and all female-born individuals with gender questions meets 7:309:30 p.m. Mondays, 1201 Locust St., second floor; 215-632-3028, tmanphilly.com. Transhealth Information Project Sponsors a weekly drop-in center from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and and 6:30-8:30 p.m. Fridays at 1207 Chestnut St., fifth floor; 215-8511822. Transgender Health Action Coalition Peer trans health-advocacy organization, 1201 Locust St., fourth floor; 215-732-1207. Young, Trans and Unified Support group for transgender and questioning individuals ages 13-23 meets 7:15 p.m. Thursdays at The Attic Youth Center, 255 S. 16th St.; 215-545-4331, www. atticyouthcenter.org.

Women Hanging Out With Lesbians A group in Central Pennsylvania that organizes concerts, camping, golf, picnics, hikes, plays and game nights in nonsmoking environments; http://groups.yahoo. com/group/howlofpa/. Lesbian Community of Delaware Valley Social group meets monthly for activities for gay women of all ages in Delaware, Chester and Montgomery counties; http:// groups.yahoo.com/group/LCDV/. Lesbian Couples Dining Group of Montgomery County Meets monthly; 215-542-2899. Mt. Airy Lesbian Social Club For lesbians in the Philadelphia area ages 35-plus; www.meetup. com/mtairylesbiansocial/. Queer Connections Social group for women in their 20s meets weekly; http://groups.yahoo. com/group/queerconnections/. Sisters United A social/support group for transwomen of color ages 13-24, with weekly social events, open discusson and monthly movie/ discussions meets 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays, 1207 Chestnut St., third floor; 215-496-0330. Women Coming-Out Support Group Women, ages 18 and over, who consider themselves gay, lesbian, bisexual or questioning and are at any stage of the coming-out process are welcome to meet 7:30 p.m. the first Tuesday and third Thursday of the month at the Pride Center of New Jersey; www.pridecenter.org.

Youth 40 Acres of Change Discussion group for teen and young adults meets 6-8 p.m. Thursdays at The COLOURS Organization Inc., 1207 Chestnut St., third floor; 215-851-1975. GLBT Group of Hunterdon County Social and support groups for

youth, teens and young adults, as well as parents and family members, meet at North County Branch Library, 65 Halstead St. in Clinton, N.J.; schedule at www. glbtofhunterdoncountyofnj.com, 908-300-1058. HAVEN LGBT, intersex, questioning, queer and allied youth ages 14-20 meet 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley, 424 Center St., Bethlehem; 610-868-2153. HiTOPS A safe-space support program for LGBT and questioning youth meets 2:30-4:30 p.m. the first and third Saturdays at 21 Wiggins St., Princeton, N.J.; 609-683-5155, hitops.org. Main Line Youth Alliance Meets from 7-9:30 p.m. Fridays at 106 W. Lancaster Ave., Wayne; 610-688-1861, info@myaonline. org. Project Keeping it Safe LGBT youth drop-in center offers meetings, HIV and STD prevention and testing, counseling and other services on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 514 Cooper St., Camden, N.J.; 856-9632432, camden-ahec.org/. PRYSM Youth Center Youth ages 14-20 meet 6:30-8:30 p.m Wednesdays at the center, 126 East Baltimore Pike, Media; 610357-9948. Rainbow Room: Bucks County’s LGBTQ and Allies Youth Center Youth ages 14-21 meets 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays at Salem UCC Education Building, 181 E. Court St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981 ext. 9065, rainbowroom@ppbucks.org. Social X Change Social activity group for LGBT youth of color ages 13-23 meets 6-8 p.m. Tuesdays at 1207 Chestnut St., third floor; 215-851-1975. Space to be Proud, Open, and Together Open to all LGBTQ queer youth and allies, ages 14-21, the SPOT meets 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursdays at Planned Parenthood of Chester County, 8 S. Wayne St.; 267-6876648. Young, Trans and Unified A support group for transgender and questioning youth ages 13-23 meets 7:15 p.m. Thursdays at The Attic Youth Center; 215-545-4331, www.atticyouthcenter.org. You’re Not Alone Sponsored by AIDS Delaware, the group for gay, lesbian and bisexual youth meets during the school year at 100 W. 10th St., Suite 315, Wilmington, Del; 800-810-6776. Youth Making a Difference A group for LGBTQ AfricanAmerican and Latino youth ages 14-24 meets 5-7 p.m. Tuesdays at Camden AHEC, 514 Cooper St.; 856-963-2432.

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

Community Bulletin Board 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. Groups meet and activities are held 4-7 p.m. Monday-Tuesday and 48:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday. Case management, HIV testing and smoking cessation are available MondayFriday. See the Youth section for more events.

■ Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at the University of Pennsylvania 3907 Spruce St., 215-898-5044; center@dolphin. upenn.edu. Regular hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; noon-6 p.m. Saturday; noon-8 p.m. Sunday. Summer hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

■ ActionAIDS: 215-981-0088 ■ AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania: 215-587-9377 ■ AIDS Law Project of Southern New Jersey: 856-933-9500 ext. 221 ■ AIDS Library: 215-985-4851 ■ ACLU of Pennsylvania: 215592-1513 ■ AIDS Treatment Fact line: 800662-6080 ■ Barbara Gittings Gay and Lesbian Collection at the Independence Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library: 215-685-1633 n The COLOURS Organization Inc.: 215-496-0330

■ Rainbow Room — Bucks County’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Allies Youth Center 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays: Salem UCC Education Building, 181 E. Court St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981 ext. 9065 rainbowroom@ppbucks.org. ■ William Way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center 1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220; www.waygay.org. Hours: 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Peer counseling: 6-9 p.m. Monday through Friday Library hours: noon-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; noon-3 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. Friday; noon-6 p.m. Saturday. Volunteers: New Orientation: First Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m.

Key numbers ■ Equality Pennsylvania: 215731-1447; www.equalitypa.org ■ Equality Forum: 215-732-3378 ■ LGBT Peer Counseling Services: 215-732-TALK ■ Mayor’s Director of LGBT Affairs: Nellie Fitzpatrick, 215-6862194; helen.fitzpatrick@phila.gov; Fax: 215-686-2555

■ Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force: 1-877-pride-2000 ■ Philadelphia Police Department liaison — Deputy Commissioner Kevin Bethel: 215-6863318 ■ Philadelphia Police Liaison Committee: 215-760-3686 (Rick Lombardo); ppd.lgbt@gmail.com ■ Philly Pride Presents: 215875-9288

■ Mazzoni Center: 215-563-0652; Legal Services: 215-563-0657, 866-LGBT-LAW; Family & Community Medicine: 215-563-0658

■ SPARC — Statewide Pennsylvania Rights Coalition: 717-9209537

■ Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (Philadelphia): 215-572-1833

■ Transgender Health Action Coalition: 215-732-1207 (staffed 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 6-9 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays)

■ Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations: 215-686-4670

Health

Anonymous, free, confidential HIV testing Spanish/English counselors offer testing 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday at Congreso de Latinos Unidos, 216 W. Somerset St.; 215763-8870. ActionAIDS Provides a range of programs for people affected by HIV/ AIDS, including case management, prevention, testing and education services at 1216 Arch St.; 215-981-0088; www.actionaids.org. AIDS Services In Asian Communities Provides HIV-related services to Asians and Pacific Islanders at 1711 S. Broad St.; 215-629-2300; www.asiac.org. Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative Free, anonymous HIV testing from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 149 W. Susquehanna Ave.; noon-6 p.m. Tuesdays at the Washington West Project, 1201 Locust St.; 215-851-1822 or 866-222-3871; www.galaei.org. Spanish/English HIV treatment Free HIV/AIDS diagnosis and treatment for Philadelphia residents are available from 9 a.m.-noon Mondays (walk-in) and 5-8 p.m. Thursdays (by appoint-

■ Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia GALLOP holds board meetings at 6:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at 100 S. Broad St., Suite 1810; GALLOP also provides a free referral service; 215-627-9090; www.galloplaw. org. ■ Greater Philadelphia Professional Network Networking group for area business professionals, selfemployed and business owners meets monthly in a different location throughout the city, invites speakers on various topics, partners with other nonprofits and maintains a website where everyone is invited to sign up for email notices for activities and

ment) at Health Center No. 2, 1720 S. Broad St.; 215-685-1821. HIV health insurance help Access to free medications and confidential HIV testing available 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays at 13 S. MacDade Blvd., Suite 108, Collingdale; Medical Office Building, 722 Church Lane, Yeadon; and 630 S. 60th St.; 610-586-9077. Mazzoni Center Free, anonymous HIV testing; HIV/AIDS care and treatment, case management and support groups; 21 S. 12th St., eighth floor; 215-563-0652; www.mazzonicenter.org. Mazzoni Center Family & Community Medicine Comprehensive primary health care, preventive health services, gynecology, sexual-health services and chronicdisease management, including comprehensive HIV care, 809 Locust St.; 215-563-0658. Washington West Project Free, anonymous HIV testing. Walk-ins welcome 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-noon Friday; 1-5 p.m. Saturday; 1201 Locust St.; 215-985-9206.

Professional groups events; www.gppn.org; 215-9223377.

■ National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association The Philadelphia chapter of NLGJA, open to professionals and students, meets for social and networking events; www. nlgja.org/philly; philly@nlgja.org.

■ Independence Business Alliance Greater Philadelphia’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce, providing networking, business development, marketing, educational and advocacy opportunities for LGBT and LGBT-friendly businesses and professionals. Visit www.IndependenceBusinessAlliance.com for information about events, programs and membership; 215-557-0190; 1717 Arch St., Suite 3370.

■ Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus A regional organization dedicated to promoting gay and lesbian tourism to the Greater Philadelphia region holds meetings every other month on the fourth Thursday (January, March, May, July, September and the third Thursday in November), open to the public; P.O. Box 58143, Philadelphia, PA 19102; www. philadelphiagaytourism.com; 215-840-2039.

PGN

U EE CI R N EM N O A W

Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com June 5-11, 2015

PRISCILLA

THE SUMMER OF SANGAILE

WEEKEND

CUT SNAKE

TANGERINE

CUT SNAKE JUNE 2 // 7:30PM

An ex-con’s plans to rehabilitate his life and marry a woman he met on the outside are thwarted when his cellmate tracks him down in the hopes of sucking him back into a life of crime and revealing his true sexual impulses. This high-octane thriller set in Melbourne in the mid-70s examines the homophobia of the period. + Post-screening discussion with LGBT activist Chris Barlett

THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT JUNE 4 // 7:30PM

Two drag queens and a transsexual travel across the outback, performing cabaret while making fans, facing bigots and working through life’s complications in this crowd pleaser that received raves from the NY Times and Rolling Stone. Presented in 35mm. + Special Guest Brittany Lynn, the hardest working queen in Philly

THE SUMMER OF SANGAILE JUNE 11 // 7:30PM

A hit at the opening night of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, this lush, Lithuanian, lesbian coming-of-age tale tells the story of Sangaile, a shy 17-year-old with a fear of heights and fascination with planes. When she meets the beautiful, enigmatic Auste, the two help each other grow into their passions.

WEEKEND JUNE 18 // 7:30PM

This tender, refreshing and brutally raw love affair of a film chronicles two gay men as a one-night-stand grows into an intimately romantic and honest micro-relationship. Addressing universal themes like curiosity and finding one’s place in the world, this touching gem was called “perfectly realized” by the New York Times. Presented in 35mm.

TANGERINE JUNE 25 // 7:30PM

Director Sean Baker’s uproarious Sundance hit, shot entirely on an iPhone 5 and hailed by many critics as their favorite of the festival, sees a pair of loud-mouthed, transgender, prostitute best friends on a journey to track the pimp that broke one of their hearts.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT THE PFS ROXY AND WWW.FILMADELPHIA.ORG 2023 CHESTNUT STREET | PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103 • 267 639 9508