Celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz snaps his way to an app PAGE 25
Family Portrait: Brian Andersen and Anton Tanumihardja
A talk about post-DADT progress in Philly with a national trans leader
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Feb. 8-14, 2013
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Vol. 37 No. 6
Liberty City launches first policy platform By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com The Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club set its agenda for the upcoming year at its Annual Meeting and Priorities Convention Feb. 2 at the William Way LGBT Community Center. The organization voted to include 10 themes in its Issues Agenda 2013, the first the agency has ever created. The issues — which will help inform future candidate questionnaires and educate policymakers and others about LGBT priorities — are anti-discrimination, health care, public safety, education, youth and aging, reproductive justice, HIV/AIDS, transgender documentation and recognition, social justice and economic empowerment. According to Liberty City cochair Sherrie Cohen, the organization’s policy and advocacy committee researched the issues impacting the LGBT community for the past six months and held workshops to gain feedback on what topics were most important to the community. “We had committee meetings where we invited a lot of people in the community at large to
come and share their views and priorities,” Cohen said. For an hour of the meeting, members split into five groups to discuss possible priorities, coming up with about 30 different options before voting on the final issues. “It was really exciting to see the engagement and the collaboration,” Cohen said. “We have members with so much experience, wisdom and knowledge in our community.” A change in leadership was also made at the meeting, with longtime board co-chair Lee Carson, nominating committee chairperson Su Ming Yeh and member Howard Moseley, stepping down from the board, while Gary Hines and Tony Campisi were elected to the board. New membership rates were also announced; membership is now $40 for individuals, $60 for couples or $10 for low-income, students and elderly individuals. L i b e r t y C i t y ’s p r i m a r y endorsement meeting will be held April 1. Members should have their dues paid 45 days before the meeting. For more information, visit www.libertycity.org. ■
Proposed budget shows slight increase in HIV/AIDS funding By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
NO OUTAGE HERE: ActionAIDS development director Michael Byrne spoke to the crowd of about 75 at the Big Game Event III, the Super Bowl-centered fundraiser staged by the Greater Philadelphia Flag Football League. Held Feb. 3 at Painted Bride Art Center, a new location for the festivities, the event featured a big-screen showing of the Bowl, as well as food, drinks, raffles and a silent auction, with money benefiting ActionAIDS and GPFFL. Byrne told PGN this week that his agency is a huge fan of the event, which he said “brings us in touch with a whole group of folks in the community. The Big Game Event III was great and we can’t wait for the Big Game Event IV. Now, we only pray the Eagles could possibly get there.” Photo: Scott A. Drake
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Council to consider new tax-collection methods for nonprofit organizations By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com
OUTLINING THE AGENDA: Members of the Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club worked in small groups at the Feb. 2 Annual Meeting and Priorities Convention to decide on the final items on the agency’s first public-policy platform. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled the proposed 2013-14 state budget this week — which includes a slight increase in funding for HIV/AIDS causes but no restoration of a program that provided cash assistance to the state’s poorest. The $28.4-billion budget is an overall 2.7-percent increase from the current budget. Legislators have until July 1 to approve it. Among the biggest changes to the budget are the proposal to privatize the state’s liquor and wine stores, to generate $1 billion that would be funneled into the public education system. The plan would also require all new state employees to enroll in a retirement plan similar to a 401(k). Corbett’s proposal did not include any funding for the Department of Public Welfare’s former General Assistance funding, which was cut last
year, eliminating cash stipends for impoverished and disabled Pennsylvanians, including some in the HIV/AIDS community. It also does not include the expansion of Medicaid, as recommended under the Affordable Care Act. The budget allocated a total of approximately $108.3 million HIV/AIDS-specific programs, a slight increase from the current $102.4 million. HIV/AIDS money in the General Fund jumped from approximately $87.3 to $94 million. Funding for AIDS Programs ($7.2 million) and HIV Care ($11.5 million) stayed steady, while money for AIDS Health Education rose from $2.4 to $3.1 million and funding for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS rose from $2.3 to $2.5 million. Funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program fell from $281,000 to $226,000. On the pharmaceutical side, funding for AIDS Special
Councilman Bill Green recently introduced a bill that would allow the city to collect taxes from nonprofit organizations that are involved in commercial activity outside of their nonprofit missions. According to Green, the bill could generate several million in revenue from organizations that may be operating outside of the guidelines for tax-exempt nonprofit agencies. “If organizations are doing
everything right and paying taxes for any commercial activity that is not a part of their mission, they will be fine,” Green told PGN. “However, if they are not doing it correctly, this makes it easier for the Department of Revenue to collect from them.” Although Green did not provide specific examples of organizations that were abusing their nonprofit status, he said the measure would help prevent future violations. “Hopefully this will result in people thinking about whether or not they have commercial activity
going on that is not part of their core mission and getting them to think about what that means in the tax effort going forward,” he said. Green said LGBT and HIV/ AIDS-oriented organizations, like all other nonprofits, would not be affected as long as they are adhering to the tax guidelines. “This bill will apply to all nonprofits regardless of their missions. I am focused on all nonprofits,” he said. ActionAIDS executive director Kevin Burns said the revenue his organization PAGE 20