New Hope AIDS Walk brings out hundreds
Erasure hits the shore
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Family Portrait: Shushma Shah on coming out and culture PAGE 25
Philadelphia PAC opens doors to Center City campaign office PAGE 5
Sept. 26-Oct. 2, 2014
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PGN Philadelphia Gay News HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
Vol. 38 No. 39
Arrests made in gay bashing
PA state senator comes out as gay
By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
By Ryan Kasley ryan@epgn.com State Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-38th Dist.), who came out as gay on Tuesday at a rally and press conference at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg, spoke with PGN this week about his history-making announcement. Ferlo came out at a rally that was calling for expanded hate-crimes legislation in Pennsylvania in light of the recent gay-bashing incident in Philadelphia. Ferlo, a three-term senator who is retiring later this year, is the first openly gay state senator in Pennsylvania. The announcement came at the end of Ferlo’s speech, in which he emphasized the need to “move as a society to punish those who act on [an individual’s] prejudices through illegal and criminal action.” He then gave a personal anecdote on his sexuality as a young man, and how he was fortunate to have an understanding mother and supportive friends and colleagues over the years. He then announced, “I’m gay,” and PAGE 20 followed with an expla-
‘I’M GAY. GET OVER IT.’: State Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-38th Dist.), surrounded by members of the state legislature and LGBT advocates, came out Tuesday on the steps of the Capitol in Harrisburg. Ferlo made the announcement during a press conference and rally calling for the expansion of Pennsylvania’s hate-crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Ferlo has led the Senate effort on the bill for a number of years, while Brendan Boyle (to the left of Ferlo) is spearheading the House version. Ferlo advocated for the legislation for several minutes before telling the crowd he had a personal statement to make, followed by his announcement, “I’m gay.” He went on to say, “Get over it. I love it. It’s a great life.” Photo: Equality PA
Three arrests were made this week in the brutal gay bashing of a couple in Center City. On Tuesday, the Philadelphia District Attorney announced charges against three people: Philip Williams and Kathryn Knott, 24, and Kevin Harrigan, 26. All three, who are from Bucks County, turned themselves in to Central Detectives Wednesday morning. As of presstime Wednesday, the three were in police custody and had not yet had a bail hearing. The arrests were the culmination of a nearly two-week investigation into the Sept. 11 attack of a gay couple at 16th and Chancellor streets. The incident involved up to 15 people, who reportedly use antigay slurs and language during the violent beating.
The three suspects were each charged with two counts of aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person and one count of criminal conspiracy. They cannot be charged with a hate crime, as Pennsylvania’s statute does not include LGBT protections. None of the three suspects has a prior arrest record. Knott, a 2013 graduate of La Salle University whose former Twitter account displayed a number of homophobic posts, is the daughter of Chalfont police chief Karl Knott. A police source told PGN Wednesday that all three allegedly attacked the victims, and Knott’s voice appears to be among those on a recording hurling antigay epithets. KNOTT The potential penalties facing the (FROM TOp), suspects are hefty. HARRIGAN AND PAGE 2 A g g r ava t e d WILLIAMS
Momentum builds for updates to hate-crimes laws By Ryan Kasley ryan@epgn.com In light of the recent gay-bashing incident in Philly, local leaders in both the state and federal legislatures are building political momentum to instate policy change. Pennsylvania’s hate-crimes law does not OF currently cover sexual orientation or gender identity; they were added in 2002 to the law, but later repealed on a technicality. But two bills now before the state legislature are looking to reinstate LGBT protections. House Bill 177 and Senate Bill 42, intro-
duced Jan. 4 and Jan. 22, 2013, respectively, both seek to amend the state’s definition of “ethnic intimidation” to include a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender or gender identity. The Senate version is led by state Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-38th Dist.), who came out Tuesday at a press conference about the legislation. The House version is led by state Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-170th Dist.) and has 48 cosponsors, seven of whom signed on since the Sept. 11 attack. The following Philadelphia-area state lawmakers, all Democrats, have not sponPAGE 17 sored HB 177: Reps.
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JAZZED Up: The Dena DeRose Trio took to the stage Sunday at the OutBeat finale at Union Transfer. That day’s festivities — which featured performances by a dozen artists and groups — capped the four-day event, the nation’s first queer jazz festival. It was presented at William Way LGBT Community Center through funding provided by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. The program wrapped up William Way’s annual music series. Photo: Scott A. Drake
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