Music to your ears
Family Portrait: Tammy Peay delivers the laughs PAGE 35
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I’m From Driftwood marks five years with a Philly fundraising brunch
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Apr. 4-10, 2014
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Vol. 38 No. 14
Lib City releases first-ever lawmaker rating By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
COMMUNITY IN ACTION: Assistant District Attorney Nellie Fitzpatrick, the D.A.’s liaison to the LGBT community, addressed a crowd of about 50 LGBTs and allies April 1 at the D.A.’s Office LGBTQ Forum. The event focused on crime prevention and public safety in the community and featured remarks from D.A. Seth Williams, as well as several top law-enforcement officials. Members of the Police LGBT Liaison Committee were on hand, as well as LGBT Liaison Deputy Commissioner Kevin Bethel and the captains of the Sixth and Ninth districts, Center City District and Central Detectives Division. Photo: Patrick Hagerty
Casey among original cosponsors of Clementi bill By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com Pennsylvania’s Sen. Bob Casey (D) is among a handful of original backers of anti-bullying legislation named for a gay Rutgers student who took his own life. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (DWisc.) and Patty Murray (DWash.) last Thursday introduced t h e Ty l e r C l e m e n t i H i g h e r Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2014 with five cosponsors: Casey and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Ct.), Al Franken (Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.), all Democrats. The bill would require federally funded colleges and universities to instate policies banning harassment, including cyberbullying, of students based on actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion. Clementi, a Rutgers freshman, committed suicide in September
2010 after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, used a webcam to spy on him in a sexual encounter with another man and disseminated the images to other students. Ravi spent 20 days in jail and served three years in probation for invasion of privacy and other charges. The Senate legislation, introduced in the last three sessions of Congress, had previously been spearheaded by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). Those versions died in committee. Casey, a first-time cosponsor of the bill, told PGN in a statement he was “proud” to sign on. “Bullying and harassment affect millions of students each year, and I believe students of all ages deserve to receive a quality education without fear of bullying,” he said. “This legislation will provide students and institutions with resources to address and prevent harassment, and assist those who have been victim to bullying in the past.” ■
Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club this week released its firstever LGBT Legislative Scorecard, which evaluated all state lawmakers from Southeastern Pennsylvania on their positions on LGBT equality. Scores were based on legislators’ cosponsorship of current LGBT-related bills. Lawmakers scoring 100 include Sens. Larry Farnese (D-First Dist.), Michael Stack (D-Fifth Dist.) and Daylin Leach (D-27th Dist.), as well as Reps. Ed Neilson (D-169th Dist.), Kevin Boyle (D172nd Dist.), Mike O’Brien (D175th Dist.), Michelle Brownlee (D-195th Dist.), Cherelle Parker (D-200th Dist.), Stephen Kinsey (201st Dist.), Mark Cohen (202nd Dist.), Mark Painter (D-146th
Dist.) and Steve McCarter (D154th Dist.). Lawmakers were scored based on their support for a bill to ban LGBT discrimination, a measure to include LGBTs in the hatecrimes law, a measure allowing for marriage equality and a bill to ban conversion therapy for minors — all of which have been introduced in both the House and Senate. House members were also rated on the anti-bullying PASS Act and a measure to repeal the state’s ban on marriage equality, neither of which have been introduced in the Senate; senators were also scored based on their support for legislation that would revamp the namechange process. Senators scoring an 80, meaning they cosponsored all but one bill, include Vincent Hughes (D-Seventh Dist.) and Anthony Williams (D-Eighth Dist.), while
House members with an 83, who are lacking cosponsorship of one bill, include Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-170th Dist.), Curtis Thomas (D-181st Dist.), Brian Sims (D182nd Dist.), Jordan Harris (D186th Dist.), Vanessa Lowery Brown (D-190th Dist.) and Matthew Bradford (D-70th Dist.). The scorecard was spearheaded by Liberty City’s Policy & Advocacy Committee, led by co-chairs Micah Mahjoubian and Jordan Gwendolyn Davis. Mahjoubian said the organization last year released an Issues Agenda — centering on the topics important to its members — which helped inform the legislation that formed the basis for the scorecard. “We’ve had a long history of endorsing Democrats who we believed are strong on LGBT PAGE 21 issues but
Mazzoni gets large legacy gift By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com
TWO TO TANGO: Gerald Feigin (left) and Jonathan Cabrera showed off their tango talent during the matinee competition of the Philadelphia Liberty Dance Challenge March 29 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The eighth-annual event brought hundreds of competitors and spectators to witness dance competitions ranging from waltz to merengue to foxtrot. All skill levels were welcomed. The matinee portion of the day was followed by a grand ball, which included general dancing and the finals for the Level A dancers, the highest-trained group. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Mazzoni Center received one of its biggest donations earlier this year from the estate of a late Pennsylvania native. Thomas Dross, an out Conshohocken native, died in 2012, and committed to leaving a legacy for HIV/AIDS and LGBT organizations. Longtime friends and managers of Dross’ estate, David Perry and Alfredo Casuso, gave a $1-million gift last year to the AIDS Emergency Fund, a San Francisco-based organization, and this year Mazzoni Center also benefited from Dross’ generosity. Mazzoni Center received a $100,000 gift from the Dross estate. Mazzoni Center executive director Nurit Shein said the money will support the center’s legal-services program, as well as its HIV/AIDS PAGE 23 and youth programs.