Philadelphia Gay News

LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976 | VOL. 43 NO. 38 | SEPTEMBER 13-19, 2019| | HONESTY | INTEGRITY | PROFESSIONALISM |

Family Portrait: Republican State PAGE 2 Community engagement LGBTQ radio station PAGE 9
Mason Darrow Rep. opposes “X” and civic action project comes to Philly
on driver’s license kicks off 3rd year
PAGE 29 PAGE 4

TransWork, Philadelphia airport team up

to smash barriers to trans employment
BY LAURA SMYTHE
laura@epgn.com
Applying to jobs is often stressful. But
for AJ Kingsbury there’s an extra layer of
anxiety — one where “you can feel your
insides curl.”
“Usually, when looking at a job appli-
cation I don’t know if I can put down my
preferred name or if I have to use my legal
name that I had to change,” said Kingsbury,
a 22-year-old North Delaware resident who
is trans and uses they/them pronouns. “It’s
sort of like, ‘Do I take the leap and cross
my fingers that I don’t get penalized some-
how or do I use the birth name that I am not
a fan of and clearly marks me as one gender
that I am not?’”
Kingsbury joined about 30 fellow trans,
nonbinary and gender nonconforming peo-
ple from across the Greater Philadelphia
region on Tuesday at the inaugural job fair
by TransWork, an employment program for
job seekers and entrepreneurs in these com-
munities developed by the Independence
Business Alliance, Philadelphia’s LGBT
Chamber of Commerce. Hosted at William
Way LGBT Community Center and orga-
nized in partnership with the Philadelphia
International Airport, the event focused on
helping folks find employment at the travel
hub.
“A lot of folks are trans-identified or
nonbinary and they have skills, they have
work experience, they have degrees, but
they’re just not getting employed because
they’re trans,” said Marcus Iannozzi, a trans
man and Transwork’s founder and co-chair.
This is due to “numerous barriers” trans job
applicants experience, he added, like doc-
umentation issues, criminal histories and
South Philadelphia resident Vincent
Tjia, who is trans, speaks with an
employer at the TransWork job fair on
Sept. 10. Photo: Laura Smythe
“blatant discrimination.”
“People are seeking employment at all
points in their own journeys [transitioning]
and how they present may change over that
time,” added Iannozzi, who also serves on
Independence Business Alliance’s board.
“There are employers who don’t under-
stand … and really don’t have to, so they
don’t want to.”
The airport, which is an official depart-
ment of the City of Philadelphia, offers
civil service positions, as well as employ-
ment at more than 100 private businesses
that operate within the facility, including
restaurants, FedEx and UPS, said Kathy
Padilla, trans woman and deputy direc-
tor of aviation for diversity and inclusion
at Philadelphia International Airport. The
airport follows the City’s Fair Practices
Ordinance, which passed in 1982 to pro-
vide nondiscrimination PAGE 22

Log Cabin Republicans PA chapter Out candidate receives unfavor-

leader confirms Trump endorsement able appellate ruling
and the Democrat Party as the party of old, until April 18.
BY VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH Establishment ideas.” BY TIMOTHY CWIEK On September 5, Commonwealth Court
PGN Contributor Jordan wasn’t always a Republican. He timothy@epgn.com upheld Fletman’s ruling. The court opined
broke with the Democratic Party in 2008, that the nomination petitions Cohen filed as
In January, Rob Jordan was tasked with devastated over Hillary Clinton’s loss in the Undaunted by an unfavorable appellate a Democratic candidate weren’t voided in
reviving the Pennsylvania chapter of the primary to Barack Obama, when Clinton court ruling, Sherrie Cohen has vowed to ask time for her to run as an Independent can-
Log Cabin Republicans and has been build- won the popular vote by more than 300,000 the state Supreme Court to hear her case for didate.
ing that chapter, which votes but lost the delegate reinstatement to the November 5 ballot as “[Cohen] admittedly filed nomination
is based in Philadelphia, count, largely due to super- an Independent candidate for Philadelphia petitions seeking the Democratic nom-
ever since. At the end of a delegates, he said. City Council. ination for the office
recent vacation in Rehoboth “I was strong for Hillary Last month, Common of an at-large seat on
Beach, Jordan spoke with in 2008,” said Jordan. Pleas Judge Abbe the Philadelphia City
PGN about why LCR is “I campaigned for her F l e t m an d i s qu a l i fi e d Council in the May 21,
endorsing President Trump in North Carolina and Cohen from running for 2019, Municipal Primary
for 2020 and why he voted Pennsylvania, traveling on a seat on City Council as Election,” Commonwealth
for Trump in 2016 and will my own dime. I gave her an Independent candidate Court’s ruling states. “She
again next year. the maximum. I was all in in the general election also admittedly pursued
Jordan wants people to for Hillary.” after having relinquished her candidacy for such
know that LCR is open Jordan said he was “con- her primary run as a office by seeking endorse-
and welcoming to all. cerned about how all of that Democrat. Fletman ruled ments and contributions to
“We invite everyone to went down. And I couldn’t that March 27 was the the point of actually draw-
our events — Democrats ROB JORDAN Photo: Facebook accept it. There was this deadline for a candidate ing her placement on the
and Independents, as well idea that the gay commu- to voluntarily withdraw SHERRIE COHEN Democratic Party ballot
as Republicans.” Jordan leans heavily nity had to fall in line, and I realized that in from the primary and still for that office in that elec-
Libertarian, but said, “Right now, I see the my heart and in my mind I was not a fall-in- be eligible to run in the general election. tion. Although she was ultimately granted
Republican Party as the party of freedom line person.” PAGE 23 Cohen didn’t withdraw from the primary leave to withdraw as a PAGE 17
2 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 LOCAL
PGN

Resource listings Republican State Rep. opposes gender-

Legal resources inclusive option on PA ID cards
• ACLU of Pennsylvania: • Philadelphia Commission cards.
215-592-1513; aclupa.org on Human Relations — Rue BY JESS BRYANT In 2017, Topper introduced H.B. 1933,
Landau: 215-686-4670 jess@epgn.com which is described as, “An Act prohib-
• AIDS Law Project of PA: iting certain benefit packages for chil-
215-587-9377; aidslawpa.org • Philadelphia Police Liai- In July, the Pennsylvania Department of dren’s health care and medical assistance to
• AIDS Law Project of South son Committee: 215-760- Transportation said it would offer a gen- include gender or sex reassignment surgery
3686; ppd.lgbt@gmail.com der designation of “X” on driver’s licenses or gender or sex transition services.”
Jersey: 856-784-8532; aid- beginning in 2020, joining 13 other states “I will introduce legislation that would
slawsnj.org/ • SPARC — Statewide Penn- that have made the same decision. prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars to
• Equality PA: equalitypa. sylvania Rights Coalition: This week, Jesse Topper (R-Dist. 78) provide gender or sex reassignment sur-
717-920-9537 announced plans to introduce a bill pre- gery and gender or sex transition services
org; 215-731-1447 venting that change. Topper told PGN he’s under the medical assistance program and
• Office of LGBT Affairs — concerned about Real ID requirements, the Children’s Health Insurance Program,”
public safety and medical care, adding that Topper wrote in a memo introducing H.B.
Amber Hikes: 215-686-0330; the state’s current gender markers refer to 1933. “This legislation would apply to gen-
amber.hikes@phila.gov sex, not gender. der or sex reassignment surgery and gender
“If we want to change [state definitions] or sex transition services, including but not
Community centers to gender instead of sex, then that’s a con-
versation
limited to, physician’s services, inpatient
and outpa-
• The Attic Youth Center; 255 S. 16th St.; 215-545-4331, atticyouth- we need tient hospi-
center.org. For LGBT and questioning youth and their friends and allies. to have,” tal services,
To p p e r prescribed
• LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania; 3907 Spruce said.“But I drugs or
St.; 215-898-5044, center@dolphin.upenn.edu. believe it’s counseling
• Rainbow Room: Bucks County’s LGBTQ and Allies Youth a distinc- services
tion when related to
Center we use sex such sur-
Salem UCC Education Building, 181 E. Court St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981 instead of gery or ser-
ext. 9065, rainbowroom@ppbucks.org. gender.”. vices.”
• William Way LGBT Community Center While T h i s
1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220, www.waygay.org. driver’s bill was
licenses do removed
use the term from the
Health and HIV testing “sex,” the State House
state vehi- on Oct. 1,
cle code 2018.
• Action Wellness: Spring Garden St.; 215- • Mazzoni Center: Photo: Kelly Burkhardt
uses neither Out State
1216 Arch St.; 215- 769-3561; bebashi.org 1348 Bainbridge St.; “sex” nor “gender.” Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-Dist. 181), who
981-0088, actionwell- • COLOURS: colour- 215-563-0652, mazzon- Topper also expressed concern over what welcomed PennDOT’s decision to offer
ness.org sorganization.org, 215- icenter.org federal implications would come from a gender-inclusive “X” option on drivers
• AIDS Healthcare 832-0100 • Philadelphia offering an “X” on state-issued identifica- licenses in July, released a statement this
Foundation: 1211 • Congreso de Lati- FIGHT: 1233 Locust tion cards, but federal Real ID requirements week regarding Topper’s bill proposal.
Chestnut St. #405 215- nos Unidos; 216 W. St.; 215-985-4448, require one’s “full legal name, date of birth, “Sometimes we see really dumb ideas
971-2804; HIVcare.org Somerset St.; 215-763- fight.org and gender,” leaving the definition of gen- come out of Harrisburg and this bill is a
• AIDS Library: 8870 • Washington West der to states. prime example,” Kenyatta said, “Allowing
1233 Locust St.; aidsli- • GALAEI: 149 W. Project of Mazzoni Erin Waters-Trasatt, communications all Pennsylvanians to have an ID that
brary.org/ Susquehanna Ave.; Center: director for PennDOT, told PGN in July, reflects their gender identity is common
• AIDS Treatment 267-457-3912, galaei. 1201 Locust St.; 215- “REAL ID requires a gender indicator. An sense and doesn’t infringe on the rights of
Fact line: 800-662- org. Spanish/English 985-9206 X indicator will meet those requirements anyone else. There is no good reason to
6080 • Health Center No. 2: • Transgender as defined by see 37.17(c) of the federal block this change from happening, other
• Bebashi-Transi- 1720 S. Broad St.; Health Action Coali- regulations.” than to play politics with the lives of those
tion to Hope: 1235 215-685-1821 tion: 215-732-1207 “PennDOT has authority under Section who are already marginalized.”
1510 of the PA Vehicle Code to issue A 2016 National Center for Transgender
driver’s licenses and ID cards with a gen- Equality survey that included 28,000 trans-
der-neutral designation,” Alexis Campbell, gender respondents found 69 percent of
Other press secretary for PennDOT, said in a Pennsylvanians said their IDs listed a gen-
• Independence Branch Library Barbara Gittings Gay and statement. der that did not reflect their gender identity.
The department of transportation has Of the Pennsylvanians who participated in
Lesbian Collection: 215-685-1633 “clear authority” to offer a gender-inclusive the survey, 30 percent said they’d been ver-
• Independence Business Alliance; 215-557-0190, Independence- option on driver’s licenses, she said, and bally harassed, denied service or assaulted
BusinessAlliance.com it’s part of PennDOT’s “ongoing work to after they provided an ID that did not reflect
create a licensing product and process that the gender with which they identified.
• LGBT Peer Counseling Services: 215-732-TALK is inclusive of all Pennsylvanians.” Kenyatta said he supports PennDOT and
• PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Topper said he doesn’t want this “lumped the Wolf administration’s initiative to add
into bills that want to take on a social cause an “X” “so that nonbinary, trans and other
Gays (Philadelphia): 215-572-1833 issue,” and he’s “open to anything, any queer Pennsylvanians have an option that
• Philly Pride Presents: 215-875-9288 idea,” that would solve what he said is a they feel best represents them. This bill
discrepancy between sex and gender on ID should never make it to the floor.” n
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 3

OPENING 9.19.19

FIRST DATE FEELS

go for it
CENTER CITY MARKET EAST #THEDISTRICT
4 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
Project kicks off 3rd year of community engagement and civic action
BY LAURA SMYTHE
laura@epgn.com
A local engagement project focused
on finding solutions to issues that affect
diverse communities through facilitated
conversations kicked off its third year on
Friday.
The project centered on the Greater
Philadelphia area, On the Table Philly,
came from a collaboration between the
Philadelphia Foundation, a philanthropic
organization that provides more than 1,000
grants and scholarships annually, and the
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation,
a national group that invests in journalism
and the arts to promote democracy.
At a Sept. 6 press conference at Reading
PEDRO RAMOS, PRESIDENT AND CEO
OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION.
Photo: Laura Smythe
Terminal Market, organizers said they will
spend the next several weeks securing hosts
and venues for Oct. 17 discussions planned
across the region. That day, area resi-
dents will have the opportunity to gather
in groups of 8-12 over meals at loca-
tions including community organizations,
offices, libraries, recreation centers, places
of worship, restaurants and homes to talk
about how to make their communities
stronger, safer and more supportive.
About 3,000 people participated in the
inaugural 2017 campaign. It grew to 5,000
in 2018. This year’s programming will also
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Published by Masco Communications Inc.
© 1976-2019 Masco Communications Inc.
ISSN-0742-5155
LOCAL
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highlight the importance of participating in is facing complex issues, like gun violence day and this one conversation can spark
the 2020 census, due to the federal survey’s and climate change, locally, nationally and change.”
impact on regional funding. internationally. Fifty-eight percent of last year’s On
Philadelphia Foundation will provide up “Unless we talk to one another, we’re the Table participants said the program
to $50,000 to implement ideas that come not going to find any solutions,” Gupta gave them a new understanding of how to
from these talks. Participants and those said, adding, “On the Table has been able address issues facing their communities,
hosting the conversations can apply for to demonstrate … that we do still have Hwang added.
$1,000 seed grants to launch solutions. the ability to talk, we do have the ability Sharmain Matlock-Turner, president and
Last year’s mini-grants went toward to communicate over really difficult, chal- CEO of the Urban Affairs Coalition, said
executing 43 projects produced via proj- lenging issues.” at Friday’s press conference that the local
ect conversations. William Way received Philadelphia Foundation is one of 11 social change organization has participated
funding to produce short videos meant to
increase the visibility of local trans leaders,
particularly those of color. Another proj-
ect, called “Dreams Can Become Reality,”
secured cash to finance free dance classes
for members of the LGBTQ-plus commu-
nity, creating a safer, identity-affirming
space for underserved residents.
Pedro Ramos, president and CEO of the
Philadelphia Foundation, said in follow-up
surveys to the 2018 project more than half
of participants reported they had discus-
sions with people whom they had not previ-
ously met. More than 75 percent indicated
they were likely to act on those discussions
about their ideas and passions for their
communities.
Using On the Table Philly to elevate the
concerns of marginalized groups, includ-
ing Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community,
is “embedded in” the initiative’s design,
Ramos told PGN in an interview.
“We’re tapping beyond the institutions
[into] individual voices, and we’re continu-
ing to find different ways of amplifying ON THE TABLE PHILLY 2019 LEADERSHIP TEAM. Photo: Laura Smyth
those issues and bringing those issues to
the floor,” he said. “It’s a great way to pro- community foundations across the United in each cycle of On the Table Philly. In
mote civic and citizen engagement. It’s also States participating in On the Table this 2017, folks came together to discuss “per-
thousands of good opportunities to learn.” year. The program is based on an annual sonal experiences across the racial divide.”
The mission of the 2019 endeavor is civic engagement initiative of the same Last year, staff delved into the question of
bolstered by an advisory committee com- name that was developed by the Chicago how to do more in the communities the
posed of partners including the City of Community Trust in 2014. group serves.
Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ellen Hwang, the Philadelphia director “We really need to make sure that we
the Free Library of Philadelphia, Visit of the Knight Foundation’s Community and have places for a sounding board and a way
Philadelphia, the United Way of Greater National Initiatives Program, said 50,000 for us to talk about important ideas past the
Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, people across the nation have participated sound bite and past just the tactical con-
the Foundation for Delaware County and in On the Table during “a time when the versation,” Matlock-Turner added. “When
Reading Terminal Market. country seems so divided.” citizens come together and talk about gov-
Anuj Gupta, general manager of Reading “We realize that one day and one con- ernment, about politics and issues, I think
Terminal Market, told reporters Friday that versation won’t necessarily solve all the we all learn a lot ... and we are inspired to
he is “proud” of the food hub’s participa- challenges that are in a community space,” take further steps to keep this conversation
tion in the initiative at a time when society she said. “But we do believe that this one going.” n
Publisher Staff Writers Art Director Advertising Sales
Mark Segal (ext. 204) Laura Smythe (ext. 215) Sean Dorn (ext. 211) Joe Bean (ext. 219)
mark@epgn.com laura@epgn.com sean@epgn.com joe@epgn.com
Graphic Artist Prab Sandhu (ext. 212)
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Kelly Burkhardt Rivendell Media:
Editor burkhardtkelly@gmail.com 212-242-6863
Jess Bryant (ext. 206)
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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.
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 LOCAL
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 5

Oral arguments scheduled in case

regarding trans woman’s death
BY TIMOTHY CWIEK
timothy@epgn.com

Oral arguments have been scheduled for

next month in an open-records case involv-
ing records held at the Philadelphia District
Attorney’s Office relating to the death of
Nizah Morris.
Morris, 47, was a trans woman of color
who was found with a fractured skull
shortly after getting a police “courtesy ride”
from the area of 13th and Walnut to 16th
and Walnut on Dec. 22, 2002. Her homicide
remains unsolved.
In April 2018, trans attorney Julie
Chovanes requested all records at the office
relating to the Morris case, citing the state’s
Right-to-Know Law. Last week, attorneys
at the DA’s Office filed a legal brief oppos-
ing transparency in the Morris case. The
brief was filed two days past its September
3 deadline but was accepted by the court
clerk’s office.
Cameron Kline, a spokesperson for the
DA’s Office, said the late filing was due to
an “error.”
“I spoke with the prosecutor who apolo-
gizes for the error, but the reason the filing
was late was because they unfortunately NIZAH MORRIS
missed the deadline,” Kline said in an the case.
email. The DA’s brief emphasizes that the case
The matter is pending before Common is an “open” homicide that hasn’t been
Pleas Court Judge Edward C. Wright, who solved. As a result, its records are confi-
is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Oct. dential. “The case remains open, but there
17 at 10 a.m. in room 243 of City Hall. is no pending
Chovanes’ brief relies heavily on a state- prosecution,” the brief states. “The DA’s
ment made by DA Larry Krasner during Office respectfully asks that this appeal be
a February 2018 press conference. In denied because [Chovanes] plainly seeks
response to a question by PGN, Krasner nonpublic records of a criminal investiga-
said: “In reference to the Nizah Morris tion.”
case, which is not a pending criminal mat- The DA’s brief goes on to state, “All of
ter in this office, as you know. It happened the records that [Chovanes] seeks in the
many years ago and charges were not possession of the DA’s Office are not public
brought, although there was a civil lawsuit records because they are confidential crimi-
around it. I can say a little bit more than I nal-investigative records.”
can say about a lot of cases because this is Chovanes expressed hope that the records
not something that is being prosecuted at will be released. “I’m deeply interested
this time.” in this case as a trans citizen of the city,
Chovanes contends that since the DA’s especially in this current environment,”
Office isn’t investigating the matter, Chovanes told PGN. “Times are getting
Morris’s records should be publicly acces- worse for trans people, not better. And I
sible. But, so far, the DA’s Office has appreciate that DA Larry Krasner is a noted
declined to release its records to Chovanes, progressive, but I just hope he does the
other than a nine-page transcript of 911 right thing. We’ve been waiting 16 years
recordings transcribed by a PGN reporter for transparency in the Nizah Morris case.
and a computer-dispatch record relating to That’s long enough.” n

Philadelphia Gay News

NCE 1976 | HONESTY | INTEGRITY | PROFESSIONALISM |
6 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
Uber driver banned after refusing service to lesbian couple
BY VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH
PGN Contributor
An Uber driver has been banned from the
app after a lesbian couple videotaped the
driver refusing to drive the couple to their
destination.
Kristin Gauthier and Jennifer Mangan
were headed to a Zac Brown Band concert
at BB&T Pavillion in Camden via Uber
after dinner near the couple’s home in
Oaklyn, New Jersey on Friday night, Sept.
6. Gauthier leaned over and kissed Mangan
on the cheek and said, “Let’s have a great
night.”
Gauthier posted what happened next on
her Facebook page in a video that has since
gone viral.
When Gauthier kissed Mangan, the Uber
driver stopped and ordered the couple out
of the car, saying, “You’re together. You’re
not allowed in my car. I’m not gonna drive
you,” according to Gauthier.
The driver told the women she did not
condone their relationship because of her
REGIONAL
PGN
Christian beliefs. Gauthier recorded the regularly uses Uber, said she is paying for not discriminate in any form, and we have
exchange on her cell phone. the service. been in contact with this rider. We removed
“So you are kicking me out because I’m “I can reject any ride I want,” the driver the driver’s access to the app as soon as we
gay? Are you are kicking me out of the car said. The video also shows Gauthier dar- were made aware of this incident.”
because I’m gay?” Gauthier asked. The ing the driver to call the police, which the Uber also gave the couple $100 in credit.
driver is heard replying in the video, “Yes, driver says she will do. In an interview, Gauthier said she was
I am, yes. I won’t have After being happy with Uber’s response and with the
that in my car.” recorded, the driver positive reaction from most people, includ-
The exchange con- told Gauthier, “You ing rideshare drivers who have reached out
tinued to escalate as just want to get on to her to express support. Gauthier said on
Gauthier continued TV,” and Gauthier her Facebook page that she regrets some
recording and the answered, “We just of the language she used in the video.
driver reached back wanted to get to the “While most people have ‘understood’
and seemed to attempt concert.” my words, it doesn’t make them right,”
to knock the phone Police were not she wrote.
away. Both women called, and Mangan Gauthier said she hopes the incident will
were shouting as the convinced Gauthier highlight the issue of discrimination.
driver repeatedly told to get out of the car, “I think everyone is free to have their
Gauthier to “get out,” Gauthier said. own personal opinions; however, if you are
and Gauthier used an Though the driver working for a company, you must abide by
expletive to ask what said in the video their terms and policy,” Gauthier said in
was wrong with the that she has a right an interview with NJ.com, noting Uber’s
driver. to reject any rider she anti-discrimination rules. “She should not
The driver told Gauthier that she is oper- wants, Uber’s guidelines explicitly forbid be doing a job if she cannot abide by the
ating her personal vehicle, and she doesn’t discrimination. policies. People need to know that it does
want the couple in her car. Gauthier, who In a statement, Uber said, “Uber does happen, and it’s not right,” Gauthier said. n
PGN’s OutFest edition, online and in print Oct. 11 previews what’s going on in Philly
over the weekend of the largest coming out day in the world.
From cover to cover, we help the community celebrate our loud and proud identities.
To reserve ad space today, call 215-625-8501 or e-mail advertise@epgn.com

Hate crimes increasing, NJ has 11th highest rate of LGBT-bias incidents
BY MICHELE ZIPKIN
PGN Contributor
According to a 2019 study conducted
by security.org, using data from the FBI’s
2017 hate crime report, 12.5 percent of
hate crimes in Pennsylvania are motivated
by sexual orientation and gender identity,
and 11.5 percent in New Jersey.
The same study shows that Pennsylvania
has .07 LGBT-bias incidents per 100,000
people, with a higher rate of .57 incidents
per 100,000 people in New Jersey, mak-
ing it the state with the 11th highest rate
of bias-fueled crimes, the highest being
District of Columbia. About 58 percent
of crimes motivated by sexual orienta-
tion-bias were targeted toward gay men.
These statistics may not necessarily
accurately reflect the actual number of
anti-LGBT crimes in the U.S. because
law enforcement agencies fail to report
these types of crimes to the FBI and the
definition of a hate crime varies from
state to state.
Last year, Pennsylvania added sex-
ual orientation and gender identity to
groups protected by discrimination laws,
but the Pennsylvania Human Relations
Commission still defines a hate crime
as “a criminal act motivated by ill will
or hatred toward a victim’s race, color,
REGIONAL
PGN
religion or national origin.” New Jersey
includes sexual orientation and gender
in its state hate crime laws, according
to the Movement Advancement Project.
But many states, including Georgia and
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
Virginia, do not include sexual orienta-
tion or gender identity in their hate crime
laws.
Another reason for imprecise data
reflecting LGBT-related hate crimes
Photo: Kelly Burkhardt
7
is that victims themselves often fail to
report crimes to the police. According to
a November 2017 report conducted by
National Public Radio, the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation and Harvard T.H.
Chan School of Public Health, about 15
percent of LGBTQ people have avoided
calling the police because of fear of dis-
crimination. The likelihood of this more
than doubles for LGBTQ people of color.
More than one-quarter of queer people
say they or an LGBTQ friend or family
member has been unfairly stopped or
treated by the police, the report continues.
While the study also shows members
of LGBTQ-plus communities are more at
risk of falling victim to hate-fueled crimes
than African Americans, Hispanics,
Muslims and other racial and religious
minorities, when taking into account each
group’s makeup of the entire U.S. popula-
tion, the report does not take intersection-
ality into account.
The Human Rights Campaign reports
that at least 18 transgender people have
been killed so far in 2019 — 16 Black
trans women, one Black trans femme
teen and one trans man; in 2018, 26
transgender people, most of whom were
Black women, lost their lives due to
hate-related violence. In the FBI’s 2017
report, 118 incidents were labeled as
anti-transgender. n
8 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 LOCAL
PGN

Philadelphia native Kevin Hart clashes with out rapper Lil Nas X
jected: “He said he was gay. So what?”
BY LAURA SMYTHE Lil Nas X then said he grew up being
laura@epgn.com taught “to hate this s--t,” that he wasn’t
“supposed to ever like this.”
Rapper Lil Nas X’s mega-popular “Old “Hate what?” Hart interrupted for a
Town Road” remix held the No. 1 spot on second time.
the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-break- “Homosexuality, gay people. Come on
ing 19 weeks, up until mid-August. now,” Lil Nas
Twelve weeks into his top-slot reign, X replied. “If
the hip-hop artist came out as gay via you’re really
Twitter on June 30, the final day of Pride from the hood,
month. you know. …
“Some of y’all already know, some of So for me, the
y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone ‘cool’ dude
fwm no more,” he tweeted at the time with the song
along with a video for his song ‘C7osure,’ on top of every-
in which he mentions coming out. “but thing to say this
before this month ends i want y’all to lis- any other time,
ten closely to c7osure.” I’m doing this
Both positive and negative fan reactions for attention, in
bubbled across the internet, right on the my eyes. But
heels of Lil Nas X’s late-June release of if you’re doing
his new EP ‘7.’ As of Sept. 3, feedback this while
hadn’t quite dissipated — including from you’re at the
celebrity comedian and actor Kevin Hart, top, you know
who is a Philadelphia native. it’s for real, and
Lil Nas X and Hart appeared together it doesn’t really
in an interview on HBO’s talk show matter I guess.”
“The Shop,” where the esteemed rap- Hart hails
per addressed the reasons that inspired from North
his viral announcement. When marketing Philadelphia.
executive Paul Rivera asked Lil Nas X Lots of “The
why he came out only recently, Hart inter- Shop” viewers
took to Twitter to condemn Hart’s com- fire before for homophobic comments.
ments, claiming the remarks were insen- In December 2018, he stepped down
sitive and detracted from Lil Nas X’s from hosting the Oscar’s after backlash
chance to share his experience with fans. from anti-LGBTQ tweets he posted years
“Interesting how Kevin Hart tried to prior.
gaslight lil nas x about homophobia, say- At the time, BuzzFeed News reported
ing it doesn’t exist in the black commu- Hart was deleting homophobic tweets,
nity; when he including one from 2011 that read, “Yo
himself said he if my son comes home & try’s 2 play
would beat his with my daughters doll house I’m going
child’s skull if 2 break it over his head & say n my voice
they were Gay. ‘stop that’s gay.’”
He sat there Following Hart and Lil Nas X’s interac-
like “why does tion, others chimed in to defend the rap-
it matter” hmm per, saying he deserved an uninterrupted
yes Kevin.... opportunity to discuss his coming out
why does it journey, but made the best of the situation.
....,” one viewer “Many people come out to fight against
tweeted. the exact joking and mockery of LGBTQ+
“Kevin Hart folks that comedians like Kevin Hart and
really acted Dave Chappelle put out into the world,”
clueless like he tweeted Raquel Willis, executive editor of
just wasn’t in Out Magazine.
hot water for This week, in a new interview with
promoting the Hoodrich Radio, Lil Nas X broke his
exact culture silence on the exchange, saying, “I’m not
Lil Nas X grew mad at Kevin Hart,” and that he hadn’t
up in,” another publically addressed the issue for fear his
Twitter user words would be twisted.
named David As of yet, Hart hasn’t commented on
said. the fury he’s received online. Hart is
Hart has recovering from back injuries sustained
LIL NAS X come under in a car crash on Sunday in California. n

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PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 9

LGBTQ-focused radio station Sales Representative at PGN

Channel Q comes to Philadelphia Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) currently has immediate opening for advertising sales
position available for an energetic, self-motivated individual with outstanding commu-
BY LAURA SMYTHE
laura@epgn.com
Philadelphia is one of nine new cities
across the nation that, last month, started
offering the radio broadcast of Channel Q,
an LGBTQ-oriented station operated by
Entercom, the second-largest radio com-
pany in the United States.
With market additions that include
Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans,
Norfolk, Orlando, Pittsburgh and Wilkes-
Barre, Channel Q now
reaches audiences
through 28 different
local stations.
“Channel Q’s
already expan-
sive reach
nationwide
is another
step in the
right direc-
tion as we
aim to pro-
mote and
s u p p o r t
inclusion
throughout
our country,”
Jeff Federman,
regional president
and market manager
at Entercom’s Southern
California home base, said in a statement.
“We remain as persistent about providing
the LGBTQ community and its allies with
a voice as we did when we first launched,
and we are proud to continue to expand our
efforts into new markets.”
Born out of an innovation initiative at the
company just under two years ago, Channel
Q aims to expand programming for under-
served communities, the station’s program
director Brian Holt told PGN.
“We realized that while there were some
stations out there kind of addressing the
[LGBTQ] community via music, we didn’t
find that there were any that were tackling
or discussing the issues in a talk format,”
said Holt, a gay man.
He added the station offers programming
primarily through an LGBTQ lens, but
newsworthy national happenings are also
covered to provide well-rounded reportage.
Channel Q’s hosted programming, which
nication skills.
runs Monday-Friday, kicks off with “The
Morning Beat w/ Jai & Mikalah,” which Our ideal candidate must have polished sales skills with experience in lead generation and
Holt describes as a “typical FM morning
show.” Hosts Jai Rodriguez, who starred in cold calling, combined with a track record of closing the sale.
the original iteration of “Queer Eye” that
premiered in 2003, and Mikalah Gordon, of
Qualifications: * Two years minimum of successful sales experience, former print and/
“American Idol” season 4, discuss pop cul- or advertising sales are a plus * Strong verbal and writing skills * Excellent at relation-
ture, queer-focused Supreme Court cases ship building * Ability to work independently and part of a team * Knowledge of local
or other national news that impacts the media market and LGBT community a plus * Computer literacy a must
LGBTQ community.
The afternoon lineup includes “Drop the Salary/Benefits: Competitive Salary based on your past experience, plus commission.
Subject,” hosted by lesbian Ally Johnson
and journalist Jarrett Hill, who made
Our benefits package includes medical and dental insurance, paid holidays, vacation
national waves when he and a casual work environment.
broke the story that
Melania Trump’s Qualified individuals interested in applying are encouraged to send their résumé. to
2016 speech at mark@epgn.com
the Republican
National
C o nv e n t i o n
was a pla-
giarized ren-
dition of
Michelle
Obama’s
remarks
at the
Democratic
National *PGN is an equal opportunity employer
Convention
eight years prior.
Channel Q’s “Let’s
Go There w/ Shira
& Ryan” tackles enve-
lope-pushing pop culture, NOTICE
political and lifestyle topics. To whom it may concern:
The segment “Loveline” wraps up the
channel’s broadcast Mondays-Thursdays Notice is hereby given that the City Commissioners, sitting as the County Board
by offering listeners love, sex and relation- of Elections, will begin holding weekly meetings on September 18, 2019 at 11:00
ship advice. A.M. in City Hall Room 478 concerning the Municipal General and Special
The broadcast’s management decided to
expand to Philadelphia because not airing Election to be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2019. Meetings will continue every
in the city “felt like such an obvious miss,” Wednesday thereafter until further notice.
Holt said. He added the importance of hav-
ing a designated radio station for LGBTQ
folks stems fromn being able to foster a AVISO
sense of community among listeners.
A quien corresponda:
“What we’re trying to do is create a
platform that tells our stories and reflects Se avisa que Los Comisionados de la Ciudad en sus funciones como la Junta
them back and lets those in the community Electoral del Condado, comenzarán sus reuniones semanales el 18 de septiembre
who are either underserved or marginalized
2019 a las 11:00 A.M. en sala 478 del Ayuntamiento con respecto a la elecciones
feel like they have a voice on the radio and
[that] they’re being represented,” Holt told generales y especiales que se llevarán a cabo el 5 de noviembre 2019. Reuniones
PGN. n continuaran cada miércoles a las 11:00 A.M. adelantes hasta nuevo aviso.
Philadelphians can tune into Channel Q on HD at
Judge Giovanni Campbell Anthony Clark
“96.5 TDY” HD3 WTDY.
Chairperson, City Commissioners City Commissioner
Presidente, Comisionados Municipales Comisionado Municipal
Judge Vincent Furlong Kevin A Kelly

Philadelphia Gay News Vice Chair, City Commissioners

Vicepresidente, Comisionados Municipales

Acting Supervisor of Elections
Supervisor Interino de Elecciones

NCE 1976 | HONESTY | INTEGRITY | PROFESSIONALISM |

www.philadelphiavotes.com
10 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
Editorial
Football season kicks off
with bi visibility
Late last month, NFL veteran, Ryan
Russell, came out as bisexual. The for-
mer Dallas Cowboy and Tampa Bay
Buccaneer told CNN, “Once I finally
felt ready to come out and felt ready to
express who I was, I just felt a weight
lifted. I became a better brother. I
became a better son. I believe I’ll be a
better teammate.”
Russell’s coming out is important to
many in the bisexual community — a
demographic up against erasure, hyper-
sexualization, misrepresentation, mis-
understanding and, of course, biphobia.
This year, The Trevor Project pub-
lished, “Research Brief: Bisexual Youth
Experience,” which analyzed data from
the 2015-17 Center for Disease Control
and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior
Survey. It found 7 percent of youth
identify as bisexual, compared to 2 per-
cent as gay or lesbian and 4 percent as
questioning.
The report noted that 66 percent of
bisexual youth felt sad or hopeless for
two or more weeks in a row over the
course of 12 months compared to 49
percent of those who identify as gay
or lesbian and 27 percent of those who
identify as heterosexual. Further, the
report found that 21 percent of bisexual
youth reported having been forced to
have sexual intercourse, compared to 16
percent of those identifying as lesbian
and gay and 5 percent of those who iden-
tify as straight.
An Australian study from researchers at
La Trobe University in Melbourne looked
at bisexual people’s mental health, trying
EDITORIAL
PGN
EDITORIAL
to determine why the group faces greater
mental health challenges than their les-
bian and gay counterparts.
In a survey comprised of 2,651 adults
characterized as having “bisexual attrac-
tion, identity or experience,” results
showed high levels of internalized bipho-
bia, being in a heterosexual relationship
and having a less supportive partner “sig-
nificantly” increased psychological stress.
Almost half of those surveyed thought
about committing suicide in the past
two years and more than 25 percent had
attempted suicide at some point. The most
commonly reported mental health condi-
tions in the survey were depression, anxi-
ety, eating disorders and PTSD.
What’s compelling about the Australian
study is that those women in same-sex
relationships fared better emotionally than
those with a male partner, challenging the
belief that bisexual people in heterosex-
ual relationships benefit mentally from
“heterosexual privilege.” This does not
mean that same-sex partners are inher-
ently better than different-sex partners.
But same-sex partners in the study proved
to be more supportive of their bisexual
partners, which was the most substantial
determinant of mental health.
While it’s certainly known that bisexual
folks are stigmatized within the LGBTQ
community and outside of it, it’s upset-
ting to see that something as simple as
support “significantly” improves the
mental health of a bisexual person, when
support (and validation and acceptance)
should be a given in any interpersonal
relationship. n
Creep of the Week D’Anne Witkowski
Super Happy Fun America
If you said the words “Super Happy Fun
America” to me and then asked me what
that was, I would have guessed it was the
name of a low-budget, USA-themed amuse-
ment park with lots of red, white and blue
cowboy hats, Big Macs at every concession
stand and a requirement that everyone in
attendance carry a gun.
That, it turns out, is incorrect. “Super
Happy Fun America” is actually worse than
that.
It is, in fact, the name of the organiza-
tion that put on the so-called Straight Pride
parade in Boston on Aug. 31.
On the SHFA website, President John
Hugo says, “Straight people are an
oppressed majority. We will fight for the
right of straights everywhere to express
pride in themselves without fear of judg-
ment and hate. The day will come when
straights will finally be included as equals
among all of the other orientations.”
That Hugo co-opts the language of
LGBTQ equality groups is no accident. It’s
clear that SHFA has done its homework.
In an interview on Fox’s “Watters World”
before the event took place, Hugo is so
unhinged that he makes host Jesse Watters,
who is basically a palmful of hair gel in a
suit, seem reasonable and smart.
“Are you just doing this as a joke to
be provocative, or do you really feel this
strongly about this?” Watters asks.
“No, no,” Hugo insists. “We knew
we were going to trigger the left, and
that’s why we called it Super Fun Happy
America.”
“Can you understand why the LGBTQ
community is a little bit upset by this?”
Watters asks.
Hugo responds that Milo Yiannopoulos,
a gay man who makes a living pissing gay
people off to the delight of anti-LGBTQ
right-wingers, is the head of their parade.
“We’ve got gay people who are helping
us,” he says. “We’ve got gay allies.”
Hugo also says they want to include an
“S” in LGBTQ because “it’s more inclusive
that way.”
And then he laughs in this really creepy
way. It’s uncomfortable to watch Hugo
because this is clearly not a man who is
confident in himself, especially compared
to the overly confident Watters. That makes
him the perfect person to lead this charge of
hetero-misfits.
In a video of the parade posted online,
there’s a giant pro-Trump float (fun fact:
that monstrosity originated in Michigan and
is available to rent for “weddings, parades,
birthdays, rallies” according to its Facebook
page) and lots of white men in red MAGA
hats. There is also someone in a shark cos-
tume carrying a sign that reads, “Straight
Lives Matter” next to someone wearing an
inflatable T. Rex costume who is waving a
Trump 2020 flag.
In other words, it was a circus — only
it was a circus filled with people who are
terrible and no fun at all. It’s the bleakest
parade I’ve ever seen.
In the video, it’s hard to see who is part
of the parade versus covering the event (lots
of people seem to be wearing press badges).
There are also lots of police officers.
According to The Guardian, the event
“drew more than 1,000 counter-protesters
and a few hundred supporters.”
In other words, not an ideal ratio for the
straight priders.
SHFA Vice President Mark Sahady
declared the event “a YUGE success.”
And for them it was. The fact that they
got a couple hundred people to show up is
pretty impressive.
It’s hard to tell how seriously SHFA
expects people to take it. On the one hand,
they claim to be very serious. On the other
hand, well, they call themselves Super
Happy Fun America.
But it would be a mistake to dismiss the
whole thing as a joke. The aim is to min-
imize the very real struggle for LGBTQ
equality. That a straight pride parade exists
seems, on the surface, like a perfectly rea-
sonable response to the fact that an LGBTQ
pride parade exists.
But, of course, it isn’t. There is no his-
tory of heterosexual oppression (unless you
count the religious right’s war against birth
control and sex outside of marriage, but
that’s just heteros oppressing themselves).
There hasn’t been a systemic effort to deny
or punish the existence of straight people.
Presenting the straight pride parade as
if it is equally legitimate (or equally ille-
gitimate, which seems to be the argument
SHFA is going for) to a traditional pride
event is to intentionally diminish LGBTQ
Pride.
It also allows people who reject the idea
that LGBTQ people are deserving of equal-
ity and respect to celebrate their hatred
openly.
It’s another example of the majority see-
ing equal rights as a zero-sum game. It’s
not super, it’s not happy, it’s not fun. But it
is America, for better, or, in this case, for
worse. n
D’Anne Witkowski is a poet, writer and comedian
living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been
writing about LGBT politics for over a decade. Follow
her on Twitter @MamaDWitkowski.
 OP-ED
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 11

Is PrEP forgetting the LGBT community?

If you’re a member of the LGBT commu- munity, so they made sure we received press
nity, you’re affected by HIV/AIDS in many releases about promising results from the
ways. And if you needed information related drug during development.
to AIDS/HIV when the crisis emerged, there The first marketing campaign benefited the
was only one reliable place that gay community, our community, a
you could turn: your local LGBT community very much affected by
newspaper, like this one. At that HIV/AIDS. But you might have
time, the mainstream media, noticed it’s no longer this way.
even The New York Times and These drug companies have a TV
Philadelphia Inquirer, were der- strategy now. Have you seen their
elict in their duties as media commercials on FX or other TV
sources and journalists. If you channels?
needed to know where to receive It might not seem important
treatment, what drugs were avail- to you that a drug company has
able to help, and new organiza- decided to leave the LGBT media
tions that were formed to help market and head to the greener
support the fight, the only place
you could find information on a Mark My pastures of mainstream media, but
it is, because LGBT media will
regular, reliable basis was your
local LGBT newspaper. Words be writing about the long-term
effects of PrEP, as we did with the
It was also in your local LGBT Mark Segal first miracle drug, AZT. And it is
newspaper that you first read LGBT media that will write about
about the new drug called PrEP. any new drugs that come along,
The company that developed PrEP knew that and new drugs will come because advance-
among their markets was the LGBT com- ments are always being made.
Why am I writing this? As someone who
has seen this community grow for 50 years
now, I’ve also watched as corporate America
has woken up to how strong a buying mar-
ket we are. I’m acutely aware of corporate
responsibility to give back to communities
that support their products, and I applaud
the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce
for educating us about economic equality.
If our community is partially responsible
for the success of a product, shouldn’t the
company support our community? Or, even
more logically, shouldn’t the company con-
tinue to seek people who need the product
by advertising in a place that they trust?
A recent study from the Williams Institute
points out, thanks to PrEP, there is a sex-
ual revolution going on in our community.
Doesn’t that mean they have a responsibility
to educate our community?
This is a discussion that many LGBT
publishers have had in a changing media
landscape. Looking back over 50 years
of activism, including 44 as a publisher
of LGBT media, I’m happy to see banks,
communications companies, casinos and
real estate companies in our papers. Do you
know why we have so many companies
in our papers? It’s because of your strong
voice and loyalty to companies that support
our community. Think Absolut Vodka.
While we can easily find what the
Swedish vodka company has done for the
LGBT community and media for 25 years,
especially in support of the HIV/AIDS com-
munity, can we say the same for companies
who make PrEP or an economic power-
house like Apple? I think you know the
answer.
Maybe in my next 50 years of activism,
I’ll see an Apple ad in an LGBT newspaper.
And maybe PrEP companies will come to
the realization that you can’t just blare ads
on mainstream media and hope that people
will pay attention. Our community takes
LGBT media seriously because we take our
community seriously. Our number one con-
cern is educating the people we serve, some-
thing that PrEP companies seem to have,
unfortunately, forgotten. n

Transmissions Gwendolyn Ann Smith

Rapid Onset
I have always been intrigued by history.
I love to look at how things came together
over time and how advances in knowl-
edge, technology and society — for both
good and ill— helped shape the world we
live in today.
Being transgender makes me keen on
transgender history. The stories of pha-
raohs and emperors who may well have
been trans, for example, shed light on just
how many centuries a transgender pres-
ence has existed in the world.
History in the modern era includes
great advances in trans lives centered
on Magnus Hischfeld’s Institut für
Sexualwissenschaft and just as much loss
at the hands of Nazis.
Hirschfeld’s seminal work, “Die
Transvestiten,” paved the way for a greater
understanding of transgender people.
Harry Benjamin, who met Hischfield in
those heady Weimar days, carried the
torch, penning his own study of trans-
gender people in the 1960s with, “The
Transsexual Phenomenon.”
Benjamin was also known for his
famous subject, Christine Jorgensen.
While she was far from the first trans
woman to undergo surgery, her appear-
ance in mainstream consciousness in 1952
likely contributed to the common under-
standing of transsexual women.
In the decades since, many other trans
names have been widely known: Wendy
Carlos, Renee Richards, Roberta Cowell,
Candy Darling, Holly Woodlawn, Carolyn
“Tula” Cossey, Kate Bornstein, Lana and
Lilly Wachowski, Laverne Cox, Janet
Mock and so on.
Another patient of Benjamin’s was Reed
Erickson, a transman who started what
was known as the Erickson Educational
Foundation (EEF), where he worked to
provide trans information and resources
for two decades. He is part of a legacy
of amazing, influential trans men such
as Louis G. Sullivan, Loren Cameron,
James Green, Jude Patton, Alexander John
Goodrum, Stephen Whittle, Ian Harvie,
Scott Turner Schofield, Shannon Minter,
Sean Dorsey and Dr. Kortney Ziegler.
Today, these foundations are essential as
the trans experience goes to new frontiers,
with nonbinary and genderfluid voices
entering the discussion, and a new genera-
tion of trans people begin to influence the
world.
Today, some people would have you
believe that transgender people are a new
phenomenon — that we are undergoing
care that is untested. A new quack concept
labeled, “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria,”
postulates that given the availability of
transgender resources, more and more
people are coming out as trans as part of
some quickly evolving social contagion.
I hasten to give this idea too much air for
one simple reason.
It’s nonsense.
Look back on what I’ve written:
advances in the understanding of trans-
gender people that began over 100 years
ago in Berlin, spreading to the U.S. in the
postwar era, and which have blossomed
since the 1990s, in part due to the avail-
ability of information and decades of
transgender people coming out.
For me, coming into the commu-
nity when I did meant that a lot of the
resources weren’t at my fingertips. I had
to stumble my way through things. This
doesn’t make me any less trans than any-
one with the power of a smartphone and
today’s internet.
Far from being some insidious group
pressure than forces people to become
transgender, this availability of informa-
tion helps people who already know they
are trans or nonbinary put a name to their
feelings, find others like them and grow
into whole, functioning people.
This is not a plot PAGE 14

we wanna know:
have you had trouble getting a job due to your gender or sexual identity?

46% yes 54% no

follow us on instag ram to be a part of our social polls and q uestions: @phillygaynews
12 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®
This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY and does not replace
talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.
MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY
BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:
} Worsening of Hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you have
both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if
you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY
without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they
will need to check your health regularly for several months.
ABOUT BIKTARVY
BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription
medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults. It can either be used in
people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people
who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose
healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.
BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus
that causes AIDS.
Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine
that contains:
} dofetilide
} rifampin
} any other medicines to treat HIV-1
BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY
Tell your healthcare provider if you:
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provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY.
} Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not
breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines
you take:
} Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter
medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal
supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider
and pharmacist.
} BIKTARVY and other medicines may affect each other. Ask
your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines
that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take
BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.
Get HIV support by downloading a free app at
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BVYC0103_BIKTARVY_B_10-125x11-35_PhiladelphiaGayNews_KeepPushing2_DR4_r1v1jl.indd All Pages
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(bik-TAR-vee)
POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY
BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:
} Those in the “Most Important Information About
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you start taking BIKTARVY.
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for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.
} The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies
were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).
These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY.
Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any
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You are encouraged to report negative side effects of
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Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your
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Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.
GET MORE INFORMATION
} This is only a brief summary of important information about
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to learn more.
} Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5.
} If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com
for program information.
BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, DAILY CHARGE, the DAILY CHARGE Logo, KEEP PUSHING, LOVE WHAT’S
INSIDE, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies.
Version date: December 2018 © 2019 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. BVYC0103 02/19
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 13

KEEP
PUSHING.
h,

Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.

t
BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat
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2/28/19 9:43 AM
14 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
JEFFREY E. GOLDMAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW
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Proven track record of recovering millions of dollars for wrongfully treated employees!*
Experience litigating:
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news.
OPINION
PGN
Opinion Sheriff Jewell Williams
Suicide Prevention Month
• Partnership & business disputes
September is Suicide Prevention and
• Non-competes Awareness Month in the U.S.
• Executive compensation Suicide can affect anybody — any
• Employment discrimination family or any workplace. Less than four
• Real Estate Litigation months ago, the Sheriff’s Office lost
a member of our family when Deputy
• Wills, Living Wills, Trusts and Powers of Attorney office.
Dante was a
Put 18 years of experience to work for you! bright, outgoing
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uplifted his commu-
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from depression. We
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ahead for someone so dynamic and driven.
“Our” Research has indicated that in addition
to preventing accidental discharge of a
Family Plumber firearm by a child, the use of household
for over 30 years
gun locks can reduce the amount of sui-
cide by adolescents with thoughts of self-
harm.
A Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
report showed that 80 percent of guns used
in youth suicide attempts were kept in the
homes of parents, relatives or friends.
The U.S. General Accounting Office says
that about one-third of accidental deaths
caused by guns may have been prevented if
a gun lock had been used.
Every day, more than 22 veterans across
TRANSMISSIONS from page 11
brought on by an out-of-control pharma-
ceutical cabal like the conspiracy nuts
would like people to believe. There is
no shadowy trans lobby forcing matters.
Indeed, if there were, I don’t think it
would be so hard to get transgender care
and medication in the world today.
What’s more, this notion of people
becoming transgender as a result of peer
pressure should be laughed at as loudly
as possible. When one does come out as
trans, we often face anger and hatred from
friends and family, ostracization from peer
groups and a whole world that seems will-
ing to tear down our identities at every
turn. If we were so swayed by a push
toward social conformity, wouldn’t we
choose the socially accepted norm instead.
The truth is simple.
For many of us who are trans, we may
feel that something isn’t right for years,
ARTS & CULTURE even decades. In that time, we may grow
to feel that our trans leanings are shameful
and should be locked away. Those outside
the country die by suicide, many by way
of a gun. A survey of veterans treated for
mental health care by the Veteran Health
Administration showed that 68 percent
would like the VA to offer gun locks to vet-
erans who own firearms.
The Sheriff’s Office began to distrib-
ute free gun locks
in 2016, in hopes of
reducing violence,
accidental deaths or
injuries among chil-
dren and to deter
deaths by suicide. We
continue to give away
gun locks at nearly
100 community events
per year and distrib-
uted more than 11,000
in 2018.
Gun locks are avail-
DANTE AUSTIN able between 8:30
Photo: Kelly Burkhardt a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays
in our office at 100 S.
Broad Street, 5th Floor.
We will have gun locks to distribute
at the American Foundation for Suicide
Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Walk at
7:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 6 at the Art Museum
where a crew of officers and staff from
the Sheriff’s Office plan to participate in
memory of Dante Austin. You can learn
more about the walk at afsp.org/chapter/
afsp-greater-philadelphia/ n
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-
TALK(8255), or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO
to 741741). Both services are free and available 24
hours a day, seven days a week.
of us may never know those feelings are
there, under the surface the entire time.
Still others may suspect them but have
learned to avoid any deep realizations
about friends or family members due to
their own feelings of shame.
For us, coming out and bringing our
truth to the surface may indeed feel like
“rapid onset” to those who don’t inhabit
our bodies, but many of us have agonized
over a decision like this for a very long
time.
To outsiders, the decision seems to
come in a snap. But those same people
never heard of transgender folks until the
moment Caitlyn Jenner squeezed into lin-
gerie on the cover of Vanity Fair.
I assure you, however, just like the trans
community has a long history, so do our
innate feelings about our gender — of
the lack thereof. There’s simply nothing
“rapid” to it. n
Gwen Smith does almost nothing rapidly. You can find
her at www.gwensmith.com.

Civil rights leaders pen article supporting
federal LGBTQ nondiscrimination
VANITA GUPTA. Credit: Lonnie Tague for the Department of Justice
BY LAURA SMYTHE
laura@epgn.com
Two civil rights leaders of national stature
took to SCOTUSblog, a law blog written by
lawyers and law professors and students
about the U.S. Supreme Court, on Sept. 5 to
advocate for federal discrimination protec-
tions extending to LGBTQ people.
Vanita Gupta, Philadelphia native and
president and CEO of The Leadership
Conference on Civil and Human Rights,
and Sharon McGowan, chief strategy offi-
cer and legal director of Lambda Legal,
authored the piece, which outlines why
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
should apply to discrimination claims based
on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Each member of the team previously served
in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil
Rights Division, where Gupta worked as
acting assistant attorney general for the
Civil Rights Division and McGowan as
principal deputy chief of the Appellate
Section.
“Since the passage of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, it has been illegal to discrim-
inate against an individual in employment
on the basis of certain protected charac-
teristics, including their sex,” McGowan
and Gupta wrote. “And yet, as is often the
case with civil rights, the addition of these
federal protections did not eradicate dis-
crimination overnight. Rather, it instigated
a conversation that has been playing out in
the courts over the last 50 years about what
it means to discriminate against someone
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The Greater Atlantic City GLBT Alliance
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because of their sex.”
The article comes at a time leading up to
Oct. 8, when the U.S. Supreme Court will Miss’d America 2019 Adriana Trenta,
consider this issue in three cases: Bostock
v. Clayton County, Georgia; Altitude
Express, Inc. v. Zarda; and R.G. & G.R.
The Melanie Rice Orchestra,
Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission. The Miss’d America Dancers with
In the first, gay man Gerald Bostock
was terminated from his 10-year career
as a child welfare services coordinator for
special guest Frankie Z
“conduct unbecoming of its employees,”
according to his employer, after joining
a queer recreational sports league. The
Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda case con-
cerns Donald Zarda, a skydiving instructor
who alleges he was fired after mentioning
his sexual orientation to a client. The final
hearing centers on trans woman Aimee
Stephens, who asserts she lost her funeral
director job after informing her boss of her
SEPTEMBER 21
plans to transition.
“In light of Title VII’s clear language
prohibiting discrimination because of
sex, these cases should be quite easy for
the court to resolve in the employees’
favor… And yet we know that much ink
will be spilled in an effort to make some-
thing simple appear to be rather compli-
cated,” McGowan and Gupta noted. “To
be sure, the resolution of these cases will
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16 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
Southern New Jersey Gay Pride turns 11, takes on bullying
BY SUZANNAH CAVANAUGH
PGN Contributor
Southern New Jersey Gay Pride cele-
brated its 11th year last Sunday with the
festival’s largest ever turnout.
Founder and organizer DeAnn M. Cox
estimated that just shy of 1,000 Pride-goers
traipsed Cherry Hill, New Jersey’s Cooper
River Park, enjoying a spread of over 100
vendors and a dozen live acts. American
Idol alumna and Broadway star Frenchie
Davis headlined the free event.
“Everyone kept saying they’re not used
to everyone being so nice,” said Cox.
The late-summer sunshine enhanced the
festival’s warmth. Every year Cox puts
great effort into curating a come-one-come-
all atmosphere, and this year, she invested
in Facebook marketing using promotional
photographs to highlight diversity.
“That’s something I work very hard at
— to make sure everyone feels welcome,”
said Cox.
Last Sunday afternoon drew attendees
from Atlanta, New York City and the Jersey
Shore to the family-friendly park, a three-
mile stretch of green that surrounds man-
made Cooper River Lake.
Food truck favorites like Potato Patoto, a
tater tot dispensary and peach-pie purveyor,
REGIONAL
PGN
Yours Exclusively Desserts, lined the river
bed beside vendor tents like Seizure Dogs,
a nonprofit that trains service dogs to
aid those with epilepsy. Investment bank
Morgan Stanley, AT&T and the Human
Rights Campaign were all first time ven-
dors.
The event also kicked off Cox’s annual
anti-bullying campaign that runs through
December.
Now in its fifth year, the Comcast-
sponsored campaign, which coincides
with the start of the school year, shares
resources, personal stories and videos to
raise awareness about the effects of bully-
ing on the LGBTQ-plus community.
Entertainers Miss Theresa, Queen of
New Jersey, a drag queen and plus-size
pageant host and Michelle Tomko, an
Atlantic City comedian, took the stage as
part of the campaign, sharing what Cox
called down-to-earth stories about their
experiences.
This year, Frenchie Davis starred in a
Photo: Facebook
promotional video where she shared her
own struggles with bullying as an adult.
Cox said the out performer reflected on
negativity in her 2003 American Idol run
and her experiences with body shaming.
“That’s what I want people to hear. I
want them to hear real stories. I don’t nec-
essarily want to keep concentrating on pre-
vention, prevention, prevention, because
we can’t control people. So, you need to be
able to control yourself in a manner where
you know how to handle the situation. And
you do that through dialogue, through peo-
ple telling their stories and what they’ve
been through,” said Cox.
Cox said the decision to launch the
anti-bullying campaign, which now
includes a hotline and resource listing by
county, came after she took a look at her
own behavior.
The organizer said she had been using
her social media influence to call out busi-
nesses for unacceptable behavior — for
example, Cox recalled an anniversary date
that became a racist incident.
“I’m not sure if it was me who did it, but
the restaurant closed not too long after I
did a post. I’m sure they were on their way
out, but it was a really bad incident. And
after that, I was just like I need to really sit
back and think about how I am affecting
people’s lives,” said Cox. n

Philly DAO welcomes diversity
BY MICHELE ZIPKIN
PGN Contributor
The Philadelphia
District Attorney’s
Office just became
more diverse. On
Monday, Sept. 9, the
DAO welcomed the
largest, most diverse
class of over 60 new
prosecutors, some of
whom are members of
the LGBT community.
Two percent of this
year’s recruits iden-
tify as nonbinary, over
half of the recruits
are women and many graduated from historically
black colleges and universities. Additionally,
about 15 percent of the class is from Philadelphia.
District Attorney Larry Krasner selected
the group of recruits himself, with the help of
First Assistants Robert Listenbee, Jr. and Judge
Carolyn Temin. On Twitter, Krasner referred to
the group of recruits as “brilliant and reform-
minded.”
“In order to effect real and lasting reform of
our system of criminal justice, we must make
sure they are inclusive and representative of the
communities they serve,” Krasner said via a press
release.
“Having the cross-section of individuals that
reflect the city we serve is really what it’s about,”
said DA Spokesperson Cameron Kline. “It allows
us to do our job better and more effectively to
bring justice to our neighborhoods.”
Krasner said the 2019 recruits expressed con-
cerns about working as a prosecutor; many
recruits feared in this position they might contrib-
COHEN from page 1
Democratic Party candidate from the [primary]
by the trial court prior to the election, her exten-
sive participation in the nomination process as a
Democratic candidate clearly falls within the pur-
view of Section 976(e) [of the election code], which
[precludes her from running as an Independent.]”
Cohen, a lesbian, dropped out of the primary race
after her former campaign manager made negative
comments about Deja Alvarez’s ancestry during a
Trans Day of Visibility celebration.
Alvarez ran as a Democrat for an at-large Council
seat. Had she won, she would have been the first
openly trans member of the municipal governing
body. Alvarez is challenging Cohen’s candidacy as
an Independent in the general election.
Of Council’s 17 seats, seven are at-large, includ-
ing two reserved for non-Democrats — which
Republicans have historically held. Cohen hopes to
fill one of those posts as an Independent.
Cohen’s appeal to Commonwealth Court faulted
Fletman for allegedly interpreting the relevant case
law on election matters too narrowly.
“All the case law in election cases cites a need
for liberal interpretation to keep — if at all possible
— a candidate on the ballot. Judge Fletman failed
in not using this liberal interpretation, which is so
LOCAL
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 17
LEGAL & PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
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ute to the larger problem of mass incarceration.
Jeremy R. Gussick, MBA
Krasner hopes accurate representation will instead CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™
lead to more justice.
“I’m hopeful that the work we at the DAO 856-452-0060
are doing to seek true justice for everyone and jeremy.gussick@lpl.com
strengthen communities previously wrecked by
mass incarceration will inspire more reform-
minded attorneys to consider careers in criminal A Registered Investment Advisor Member FINRA/SIPC
prosecution,” Krasner said in the press release.
About 4 percent of Philadelphia’s population
identifies as LGBTQ-plus, and DAO representa- PARTNERS IN LAW
tion that mirrors that community, and other mar- PARTNERS IN LIFE
ginalized communities, is paramount.
“It’s important that the Philadelphia DAO not
just reflects [the community] in terms of gender
or ethnicity or sexual orientation,” Kline said.
“But also, there are experiences and there are life
lessons and allies and perspectives that come with
those delineations.”
This year’s recruits aren’t technically lawyers MINSTER & FACCIOLO, LLC
yet but hope to be after taking the bar examina- • WILLS & ESTATES •
tion in October. n • DISCRIMINATION •
• SMALL BUSINESS •
• DIVORCE •
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obvious in this case — particularly since Sherrie • CIVIL ACTIONS •
Cohen, in her nomination papers, had over 8,000 • AUTO ACCIDENTS •
signatures, which is a very significant number of • POWER OF ATTORNEY •
signatures,” Cohen’s appeal stated. • PRE-NUP AGREEMENTS•
But Commonwealth Court asserted in its rul-
ing: “We are mindful that we must strike a balance 215-627-8200 PA
between the liberal purposes of the Election Code 302-777-2201 DE
and the provisions of the Election Code relating 521 S. 2ND ST., PHILA., PA
to nomination papers that are necessary to prevent APPT. ALSO AVAIL IN DE & NJ
fraud and to preserve the integrity of the election
process.”
Louis S. Agre, an attorney for Alvarez, expressed
agreement with Commonwealth Court’s ruling.
“We think the court made the right decision,”
Agre told PGN. “It’s a well-written and well-rea-
soned decision. I would be very surprised if the
state Supreme Court overturns the decision. I think
that, at this point, any more appeals would be
futile.”
Cohen expressed hope that the high court will
agree to hear her case.
“I have a large amount of case law in my favor,”
Cohen told PGN, “I’m very disappointed with the
Commonwealth Court ruling. It’s a setback for bal-
lot access. It limits the choices available to voters,
and it limits the right of candidates to choose in
which race to run.” n
18 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 MEDIA
PGNTRAIL

District Attorney Rachael Rollins said

Media Trail
Charges against ‘straight
pride’ protesters move
ahead
The Washington Post reported a
Massachusetts judge has decided to move
forward with charges against several count-
er-protesters arrested during a “straight
pride” parade in Boston Labor Day
Weekend.
The District Attorney’s Office in Boston
asked Sept. 4 for the dismissal of disorderly
conduct and resisting arrest charges against
some defendants in exchange for commu-
nity service.
Boston Municipal Judge Richard Sinnott
denied the requests in seven instances.
Prosecutors did not ask Sinnott to drop
charges of assault or violence against police.
the judge overstepped his role, saying he
wants to punish people for exercising their
First Amendment right to protest.
Gay man at helm of conver-
sion therapy crusade chang-
es course
The Post and Courier reported a South
Carolina man who founded one of the
nation’s biggest conversion therapy minis-
tries has something to say: he’s gay.
Hope for Wholeness founder McKrae
Game came out of the closet this summer,
nearly two years after he was fired from the
faith-based conversion therapy program.
He’s now trying to come to terms with the
harm he inflicted when he was advocating
for religious efforts to change a person’s
sexuality.
The 51year old also is trying to find his
place in a community he’s assailed for
at least 20 years. Game is one of several
former movement leaders who have left
the pulpits of heterosexuality, came out as
LGBTQ and condemned conversion ther-
apy as a dangerous and misleading practice.
School board files appeal
to defend its transgender
policy
The Roanoke Times reported a Virginia
school board has filed a federal appeal to
defend its transgender bathroom ban.
The Gloucester County School
Board’s appeal appeared Sept. 4 on the
docket for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Richmond. Briefs containing
legal arguments will come next.
The board has been in a years-long
legal fight over the policy with former
student Gavin Grimm, a transgender
male.
A U.S. District Court judge ruled last
month that the board violated Grimm’s
rights. The policy required transgender
students to use private restrooms or
bathrooms that correspond with their
biological gender. Grimm had to use
girls’ restrooms or private bathrooms.
The board said it was protecting stu-
dents’ privacy.
Grimm’s 2015 lawsuit was once a fed-
eral test case and came to embody the
debate about transgender student rights.
Police seek vandal who
targeted Las Vegas LGBTQ
center
KTNV.com reported authorities are
searching for a suspect who vandalized
a Las Vegas community center serving
gay, lesbian and transgender people.
Las Vegas police say a man spray-
painted a homophobic slur in black let-
ters on the glass doors of the LGBTQ
Center of Southern Nevada on Sept. 5.
Investigators say two surveillance
videos show the suspect using a spray
can and also interacting with another
man.
The suspect is described as white and
5-foot-9. He was dressed in a black
shirt, black pants and dark shoes.
The second man, who has been
deemed a person of interest, is also
the same height and dressed in a black
hoodie, brown pants and a camouflage
baseball cap.
Both appear to be between the age of
20 and 25. n
Reporting via Associated Press

PGN’s OutFest edition, online and in print Oct. 11 previews what’s going on in Philly
over the weekend of the largest coming out day in the world.
From cover to cover, we help the community celebrate our loud and proud identities.
To reserve ad space today, call 215-625-8501 or e-mail advertise@epgn.com
 COLUMN
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 19

Married or Divorced: Who Owns What

Two people who live together in an inti- work or investments. The increased value $525,000 a year. You have been married TIP 2: Pensions and businesses are
mate relationship are unmarried cohabi- of all nonmarital property during the mar- for 15 years, but now your spouse has significant assets that should not be over-
tants, absent a ceremony and a marriage riage also becomes marital property. moved out of the family home and is pay- looked.
certificate. They may have children and For example, if you were given a paint- ing all expenses for the home and support TIP 3: Debts and liabilities are part of
make purchases with separate or joint ing from your father before you were for you and your children. Maybe that the equitable-distribution analysis. Think
money, but because common law marriage married that was purchased for $1,000, seems to work, but the divorce is looming about the mortgaged marital home that
in Pennsylvania was abolished in 2005, but five years into your marriage, the art- and an inventory of all assets and debts has lost value and is underwater. Now the
they will never be considered married. ist became famous and at the date you is necessary. All debts and liabilities, mortgage balance is greater than the cur-
If a couple had created a and your spouse separated, the whether separate or joint, come into play. rent market value. While upsetting, it is a
common-law marriage before value of the painting increased A very big asset — other than the debt issue that needs to be addressed.
2005, then that couple is still to $10,000, that $9,000 house — exists in this example, and that TIP 4: Maybe you never entered into a
considered married, but remem- increase in value would be con- is the spouse of the neurosurgeon’s pen- prenuptial agreement, but if your spouse
ber gay marriage wasn’t legal sidered marital property, sub- sion and retirement benefits. At 40, the is amenable, working out a lot of your
in 2005. Now that same-sex ject to equitable distribution. neurosurgeon is likely not in pension pay marital property rights through a postnup-
marriage is lawful, there exists You received a $5,000 check status, meaning detailed analyses and cal- tial agreement is something to consider.
the possibility that a same-sex as a birthday present from your culations need to be performed, accepted TIP 5: Make sure your current life
couple who lived under the mother, and it was just for you by both parties and/or the Court and equi- insurance beneficiary or beneficences
conditions of a common-law — if you deposited the check tably distributed. If the neurosurgeon are who you want them to be and
marriage before 2005 may be into your own personal account, were the business partner at a private make timely changes as desired, unless
able to receive retroactive sta- it is nonmarital property. But if practice instead of being employed by a court-ordered or otherwise prevented.
tus.
This is important because Family Law you deposited it into your joint
marital account, then it would
hospital, business value would also need
to be calculated.
TIP 6: Prepare a written inventory of
all your personal and marital property
marital property only applies Mark-Allen be considered marital prop- The point is that marriage and the prop- as well as all your personal and marital
to couples who are married
— seems simple enough. But, Taylor, Esq. erty. These examples are rel-
atively simple, but the process
erty rights of each spouse are more com-
plicated than some may realize. Divorce
debts and liabilities. Be honest and thor-
ough, and do not dissipate or damage any
it can often be anything but of determining marital property is never simple; don’t be lulled into assets intentionally.
simple. Pennsylvania is an “equitable dis- is complicated, and hiring an experienced believing it is. This column only addresses the tip of
tribution” jurisdiction, meaning that the family law attorney is recommended. TIP 1: If one party lives in the iceberg. Be aware that each marriage
marital assets are divided up in a manner Let’s look at a more complicated sit- Pennsylvania and the other party lives in is unique and the equitable distribution
that is deemed to be fair. No 50-50 split or uation. You and your spouse are both 40 another state, like New Jersey, consult aspect of each divorce is unique as well.
communal property. years old. You are a stay-at-home spouse an attorney in both states, or an attorney n
Think of a marriage-divorce scenario who cares for three children and the home, who practices in both, to see if there is
Mark-Allen Taylor, Esquire, Philadelphia family law
in three segments of time: (1) before the and your spouse is a neurosurgeon at a an advantage to filing for divorce in one attorney, can be reached at (215) 854-4008 or mat@
marriage, (2) during the marriage, and (3) local university medical center, making state or the other. mat-law.com
from the date of separation and afterward,
including up until the date of distribu-
tion of marital property and the inevitable
divorce decree.
Nonmarital property is what an indi-
vidual brings to the marriage, or property
such as a gift from a non-spouse or an
inheritance received during the marriage.
Marital property is what a couple acquires
together, usually from joint funds, or
receives as a joint gift or from effort, like

Because
life is
more
than
just gay
news.
ARTS & CULTURE
20 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 PGN

HEALTH AND WELLNESS DIRECTORY

Jeffrey L. Eiberson, PH.D.
Licensed Psychologist rev. dr. Nadine Rosechild Sullivan, ph.d.

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1326 Spruce Street
215-546-1767 Spirituality • Sexuality • Relationships • Self-Esteem
Philadelphia, PA 19107

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International
Protest at Chick-fil-A open-
ing in Canada over LGBTQ
issues
Dozens of protesters have crowded a
Toronto sidewalk to voice their opposition
to the opening of the first franchised Chick-
fil-A restaurant in Canada because of the
owner’s record on LGBTQ issues.
The protesters said Sept. 6 the company
has funded anti-LGBTQ initiatives while
CEO Dan Cathy has voiced his opposition
to same-sex marriage.
Justin Khan said the company promotes
hate and is not welcome in Toronto.
Chick-fil-A operator Wilson Yang said in
an emailed statement that everyone is wel-
come at the restaurant.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based company has
faced opposition in the U.S. as well but
disputes the characterization of the 2017
donations. The company said it donated
$1.6 million to the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes for sports camps for inner-city
youth, a group that is overtly against gay
marriage.
Hundreds march against
Bosnia’s first LGBT pride
parade
Several hundred people marched in
Bosnia’s capital to show disapproval of the
Balkan country’s first LGBT pride parade.
Participants in the Sept. 7 protest said
they wanted to promote what conservatives
call “traditional family values.”
The Sept. 8 pride parade was scheduled
in Sarajevo, the only capital city in the
Balkans that hadn’t hosted one yet. Foreign
officials in Bosnia expressed support.
The marchers opposed to the LGBT
rights event held banners and balloons, and
their protest ended without requiring police
attention.
But Bosnian police called for reinforce-
ments to protect the public at the Sept. 8
parade, concerned the Muslim and soccer
groups with strong anti-gay views may try
to disrupt the event.
Bosnia remains highly conservative and
torn by ethnic divisions stemming from a
1992-95 war.
Philadelphia Gay News
NCE 1976
INTERNATIONAL
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 21
Pence greeted by rainbow
flags upon arrival in Iceland
Vice President Pence was greeted by
a series of rainbow flags recently as he
arrived in Reykjavik to meet with President
Guðni Jóhannesson of Iceland.
Pence met with Jóhannesson on Sept. 4 at
Hofdi House, across the street from the IT
company Advania, which lined its entrance
with several rainbow flags, according to
The Guardian.
And a nearby office housing the head-
quarters for the Efling trade union swapped
out the flags typically flying outside to dis-
play rainbow ones.
“We just felt the need to celebrate diver-
sity today and wanted to show that by flying
the flags,” Ægir Már Þórisson, Advania’s
director, said.
Photos of Pence’s meeting with
Jóhannesson showed the president wear-
ing a rainbow bracelet on his right hand,
which was visible when he shook hands
with Pence.
Eliza Reid, Iceland’s first lady, also wore
a rainbow bracelet for the occasion.
Jóhannesson wore the bracelet when he
met with Russian President Vladimir Putin
as well.
Pence has drawn criticism from gay rights
groups for his positions on LGBTQ issues.
As governor of Indiana, Pence signed a
religious freedom law that was criticized
as a pathway to legal anti-LGBTQ dis-
crimination. When Pence was a member
of Congress, he supported a constitutional
amendment opposing same-sex marriage.
Rio’s mayor attempts to ban
Avengers comic book featur-
ing gay kiss
An Avengers comic book featuring a kiss
between two male superheroes sold out at
a Rio de Janeiro book fair after the city’s
conservative mayor attempted to block it
from sale.
Marcelo Crivella, who is affiliated with
the evangelical megachurch Universal
Church of the Kingdom of God, demanded
that the Marvel comic book “Vingadores:
A Cruzada Das Crianças” (“Avengers: The
Children’s Crusade”) be withdrawn from
sale at Rio’s biennial book fair.
Crivella, who called homosexuality a “ter-
rible evil” in his 1999 book “Evangelizing
Africa,” objected to a kiss depicted between
the superheroes Wiccan and Hulkling. By
Sept. 6, the comic had completely sold out
at the book fair, organizers said. n
Reporting via Associated Press
| HONESTY | INTEGRITY | PROFESSIONALISM |
22 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
TRANSWORK from page 1
protections to gay and lesbian people in employment, hous-
ing and public accommodation. The guideline expanded in
2002 to cover gender identity and expression, largely due
to advocacy by Iannozzi and Padilla.
“Government employment has often been the route that
many folks who are from disadvantaged communities have
to get their first jobs and to maintain careers,” said Padilla,
a trans advocate for more than 40 years. “We want to see
[trans] people be able to use their talents, contribute and
to also support their families, just like everyone else,” she
added.
More than 25 percent of trans people have lost a job
due to bias, while more than 75 percent have experienced
some form of workplace discrimination, according to the
National Center for Transgender Equality. Trans folks of
color report even higher rates of privacy violations, harass-
ment, refusal to hire and physical and sexual violence on
the job. Resulting extreme levels of poverty and unemploy-
ment lead one in eight trans people to engage in survival
sex or drug work, the organization found.
The Philadelphia airport’s collaboration with TransWork
is an effort to help “move the needle on poverty,” Padilla
said. It also paves the road for other corporations and small
businesses to follow suit, she added.
The TransWork initiative, which has been in the works
for two years, kicked off last month with a job prep work-
shop that offered resume and interview prep and info ses-
sions about workplace rights. The TransWork Committee,
comprised of trans-identifying Independence Business
Alliance members, took its time developing the initiative
“to make sure that this wasn’t just another program that
had a lot of false promises for the community,” Iannozzi
said.
TransWork partners include Pathways to Housing PA,
Restructured IT LLC., Integrity Staffing, and Action
Wellness. The program is recruiting additional employers
who complete onboarding assessments based on a Human
Rights Campaign survey that determines the inclusivity
of existing policies and training, Iannozi said. TransWork
representatives then help the organizations update their
language and procedures and learn about the requirements
Getting married?
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
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under Philadelphia’s Fair Practice Ordinance.
Iannozi hopes TransWork will partner with the Mayor’s
Office of LGBT Affairs, trans-identified corporate trainers
and independent queer consultants to provide employers
with competency training, he added.
South Philadelphia resident Vincent Tjia, 23, attended
Tuesday’s job fair looking for a position that would accept
his trans identity. He fears for his safety while building a
career because of transphobia from employers, Tjia said.
“This is like a sanctuary for trans people,” he said about
the event, adding, “You can be any kind of individual and
just come and apply for a job. We’re just trying to live our
life.”
Trans woman Marissa A., 24, commuted from New
Jersey to connect with employers at the event. She holds
a health science degree with a minor in public health and
works an overnight custodial position, which “gets old
really quick.” On Tuesday, Marissa spoke with airport rep-
resentatives about public health opportunities available at
the travel institution.
She said more events like the TransWork job fair are
necessary because of inherent biases against trans people
in many work environments.
“Even if [workplaces] do have the policies, it could just
be on paper and the actual people there are a whole other
story,” Marissa told PGN. “That’s the tricky part, which is
really one of the hardest things to deal with.”
The TransWork job fair also featured a presentation by
Wedding Services Directory
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is a beautiful old stone church located
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romantic touch to your wedding. We fly a
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legal staff from Mazzoni Center about workplace rights,
name changes and updating documentation to secure
employment and pass background checks.
Padilla said she hopes job fair attendees learned skills
they can use to apply to any City of Philadelphia job, with
the airport or otherwise.
“As a department of the city, you have career ladders,
you have good professional development opportunities,
you’re a member of a union,” she explained. “So if there
are any problems, you have support; you’re not there by
yourself.”
City departments are also covered by Mayor Jim
Kenney’s 2013 LGBT Equality Bill, which gives compa-
nies tax credits for providing employees insurance cover-
age for trans-specific health care, including counseling,
medications and gender-affirming surgeries, added Padilla,
who championed for the legislation. Kenney was a coun-
cilmember at the time of passage.
Independence Blue Cross has signed on as the partner
for TransWork’s second job fair, which will take place this
fall. Plans are also in the works for a resume bank on the
TransWork website and additional job prep and training
sessions in early 2020.
In the meantime, Iannozzi said he “can’t wait to hear
about the first person who gets a job” through TransWork.
“I have never forgotten what ... folks in our community
have to face,” he added. “...For every job that somebody
gets, it’ll just make us keep working harder.” n
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It wasn’t a minor issue for Jordan, and
he didn’t leave the Democratic Party easily
or even, at first, willingly. “I went to [for-
mer Philadelphia congressman] Bob Brady
in person and I asked him why the shift to
Obama from Hillary,” Jordan said. “I was
even vacationing in Ogunquit, Maine, and I
saw Barney Frank, and I talked to him about
it, and he basically said ‘What can we do?’”
That was, Jordan said, “The beginning of
my recognizing that I wasn’t all in for the
Democrats or for the claim that ‘gay people
are Democrats.’”
It marked the beginning of Jordan’s search
for something different.
The populism that swept 2016 in the U.S.
and elsewhere caught Jordan up, and it was
Trump he chose.
“I felt that Hillary was the most qualified
in 2008 and the smartest,” Jordan noted.
“But in the years since, I discovered she’s
not the Independent candidate I thought she
was, but much more Establishment than she
was in 2008.”
Jordan will vote for Trump in 2020
because, “I believe we need someone trans-
formative and not of the D.C. swamp...who
will shake things up and change the system
that isn’t working for anyone.”
“We have to change the whole paradigm,”
said Jordan and pointed to Philadelphia’s
one-party system as an example of why
bipartisanship and new ideas are essential.
“We have to stop focusing on ‘identity pol-
itics’ and start focusing on inclusion,” he
said.
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Jordan doesn’t see either Trump or the
Republican Party as anti-LGBTQ. “I have a
large Libertarian bent,” he admits. “We have
too many regulations, and I am all for reduc-
ing being boxed in. I want to see people rise
on merit, not ‘identity politics.’”
Jordan is not oblivious to Trump’s actions.
But the only part of Trump’s agenda with
regard to LGBTQ issues that makes him
queasy is the president’s ban on trans people
in the military.
“I do look at everything President Trump
says and does and the only thing that he does
and says that concerns me is the transgender
ban — but I get where it’s coming from.”
Jordan chose his language carefully as he
explained he believes that Trump’s advisors
have concerns that people going through
transition won’t be able to focus on the bat-
tlefield because they will be distracted by
the process of transition.
Jordan said he doesn’t think Trump is
transphobic, “I don’t think what he’s saying
is transphobic but that he’s saying you need
your strongest people in a military capac-
ity — that it has to be 100 percent. And
that someone in the midst of transition is
going through a lot — it’s a hard thing to go
through and very stressful.”
But Jordan was unequivocal when he
said, “I fully support trans people serving
in the military.” He also noted that the trans
members of LCR “tend to be the most con-
servative,” but all the LCR people “support
America’s trans troops.”
Jordan’s Libertarian bent overrides any
concerns about religious freedom bills being
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Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
used to discriminate against gay people.
Businesses should be able to choose their
customers, he said.
But Jordan is not as all-in for Vice
President Mike Pence as he is for Trump and
noted that Pence “doesn’t have the trans-
formative energy” of Trump. He likes for-
mer UN Ambassador and South Carolina
Governor Nikki Haley as a replacement for
Pence on the 2020 ticket, arguing that she
would, as a dynamic figure, energize the
GOP base.
“Mike Pence is very knowledgeable,”
Jordan said. “He was a convert from Roman
Catholicism to Evangelicalism, and he does
toe that line.” But Jordan is equally displeased
by Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg’s
constant references to Christianity and the
Bible in his public appearances.
“At first I really liked him,” Jordan said
of Buttigieg adding that several members
of LCR bought Buttigieg T-shirts early on.
Jordan said he likes Buttigieg’s youth and
some of his ideas but balks at Buttigieg’s
strong religious language. “He’s using reli-
gion as a wedge issue against other candi-
dates — Democrats and Republicans. He
is using it against other candidates on both
sides, and I think using his Christian beliefs
against anyone is just not what we want in
any candidate.”
The Democrats from the current race
that Jordan likes are Rep. Tulsi Gabbard —
often mentioned as a possible VP choice
for Bernie Sanders — and author Marianne
Williamson.
Jordan’s focus while building LCR in
23
Philadelphia — the chapter has tripled
its membership in recent months — is to
broaden the view of the Republican Party for
people who have a negative view. He thinks
Trump is “making way for gay meritocracy”
and pointed to Richard Grenell, the current
U.S Ambassador to Germany and the highest
placed openly gay official in U.S. history, as
exemplifying both Trump’s commitment to
LGBTQ people and a gay American — and
Republican — face in international politics.
Jordan pointed to Trump’s commitment
to HIV/AIDS funding and to the GOP hous-
ing nondiscrimination bill as other exam-
ples of support for LGBTQ people. As for
the Equality Act, Jordan is still considering
whether that is a necessity or if it replicates
existing protections.
Building LCR for the 2020 race is import-
ant to Jordan, and he continuously reaf-
firmed the welcoming stance of the local
chapter. Inclusion is a word he used as often
as he did transformative and said many
would be surprised that the newest members
of LCR are college students who “feel their
conservative voices can’t be heard on their
campuses.” He said they want to have a “safe
space” to express their ideas and to get sup-
port for running for office in the future.
Jordan said, “There are a lot of tropes out
there — that we’re racist or Russian plants,
but we don’t fit any of them. We’re LGBTQ
Republicans, and we are an open and inclu-
sive group that anyone can join.” n
PA chapter: 215-931-1591; pennsylvania@log-
cabin.org
24 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 PGN

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PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 25

ARTS & CULTURE

BUFFERING THE
VAMPIRE SLAYER
PAGE 28

Q PUZZLE: PAGE 26 FAMILY PORTRAIT: PAGE 29 THEATER: PAGE 30 MUSIC: PAGE 34 ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS: PAGE 27 SCENE IN PHILLY: PAGE 31

Award-winning
Philly playwright’s
‘coming-home story’
BY CAMERON KELSALL
PGN Contributor

Colman Domingo Photo: Erik Carter

Colman Domingo wears many hats. As
an actor, the out Philadelphia native is
known for his role as Victor Strand on
AMC’s “Fear the Walking Dead” and for
appearances in films including “If Beale
Street Could Talk,” “Lincoln” and “Selma.”
On stage, he earned a Tony Award nomina-
tion for John Kander and Fred Ebb’s “The
Scottsboro Boys” and has played several
engagements as Billy Flynn in the long-run-
ning Broadway revival of “Chicago.”
Also a prolific playwright, Domingo
netted a Barrymore Award nomination for
the premiere production of his play “Lights
Out: Nat ‘King’ Cole” at People’s Light
in Malvern. This month, he returns to the
Main Line venue to direct his play “Dot,”
which centers on a West Philadelphia wom-
an’s experiences with dementia and the
ways in which her children shoulder the
responsibilities of caregiving.
“Dot” debuted at the prestigious Humana
Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, and has
been staged in New York, Atlanta and
Baltimore, among other locations. But this
production will mark Domingo’s first in the
director’s chair.
“I decided a long time ago that I didn’t
particularly like to direct my own work,
because I like the collaboration aspect of it
all,” Domingo told PGN.
However, Domingo’s positive experi-
ences working at People’s Light — and the
draw of the story’s local connections —
persuaded him to take the helm.
“I developed such a great relationship
with [People’s Light], and I thought they
should do ‘Dot,’” he said. “It’s such a
Philadelphia story, and I wanted it to be
done with so much love. I felt this com-
pany would treat it with so much respect.
And through that, I thought I wanted to
direct this production, because it’s so close
to home. I’ve never performed in the city
or had my plays done here, so I thought
it would be a great opportunity for a com-
ing-home story.”
“IT’S SUCH A
PHILADELPHIA
STORY, AND I
WANTED IT TO BE
DONE WITH SO
MUCH LOVE.”
Domingo sought to extend the feeling of
Philadelphia pride by casting local actors in
a number of key roles.
“That was important to me,” he said.
“I wanted my leads to be based in
Philadelphia. I want this production to have
a real Philadelphia flavor to it.”
Several weeks into rehearsals, Domingo
has found the experience of shaping his
own play differs from staging the work of
another playwright.
“There are times when I take off my
playwright hat, and I tell my actors not to
look at me as the playwright,” Domingo
said. “They need the freedom to question
the work, to not be beholden to lines, so
that I can be held accountable as a collabo-
rator and a director.”
Domingo began crafting the script for
“Dot” after conversations with several
friends, each of whom was caring for a
mother with Alzheimer’s disease. He wove
together elements of each story, along with
fictional aspects, to create what he calls “a
portrait of our humanity.”
“One of my friends told me she was at
the hospital with her mom, and she felt like
she was trying to get the memories out of
her so that she could pass them along to her
son,” Domingo said. “Because if she didn’t,
no one would know they were here. It sort
of broke my heart. Another time, I was in
the kitchen of a different friend’s house,
and her mom kept asking me questions
again and again. I realized I was right in the
middle of finding out the reality of a fam-
ily dealing with dementia, and I realized I
never saw a work about this topic that was
from an African American perspective. I
was interested in writing that story — a
family story, about how we care for our-
selves and care for each other.”
Domingo operates in a tradition of play-
wrights who draw universality out of spe-
cific commonplace experiences. “There’s
an immigrant story in there, and there’s
a single-woman story,” he said. “There’s
a gay couple at the heart of the play, and
there’s a woman who’s aging. ... I like to
deal with a small neighborhood and the
microcosm of one house, but, embedded in
that, is the macrocosm of America.”
Working at People’s Light has shown
Domingo his hometown from a new per-
spective. After graduating from Overbrook
High School and Temple University, he
moved to San Francisco and then New
York, where he cut his teeth as a stage
actor. He now resides primarily in Los
Angeles.
While growing up in West Philly,
Domingo said he did not conceive of the-
ater as a possible profession. As a teenager,
he participated in a summer program at
the now-defunct Society Hill Playhouse,
mostly as a way to combat his own shyness.
It wasn’t until he moved to San Francisco
that he realized his early experiences had
planted a seed that would grow into a thriv-
ing, all-encompassing career in the arts.
“I did not go to theater growing up, and
people who made their living doing the-
ater did not exist in my universe,” he said.
“But when I got to San Francisco, it was
the thing I sought from the moment I was
there. I thought, let me go back to that thing
that made me feel so good at the Society
Hill Playhouse. That’s how I developed my
career.” n
“Dot” runs Sept. 18-Oct. 20 at People’s Light,
39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern. For tickets and
information, visit peopleslight.org or call (610)
644-3500.
26 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 Q PUZZLE
PGN

Gay filmmaking team helms doc

about superstar vocalist
Ronstadt explains that the radio was her best
friend. Her brother Peter was a soloist who
taught her vibrato. Her family listened to
Gilbert and Sullivan, country music (Hank
Williams in particular) and Mexican songs.
From an early age, she sang in Spanish —
her father was Mexican — and spoke in
English. These influences shaped her career
as she recorded albums in each musical
genre, often against industry executives’
wishes. But whenever they told her “don’t,”
or “it will ruin your career,” she did it any-
way. David Geffen, the out gay founder of
her label, Asylum Records, interviewed in
the film, was a strong supporter of her and
Linda Ronstadt
her career.
Ronstadt, who often performed barefoot
on stage, was one of a new breed of women
BY GARY M. KRAMER musicians — Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris,
PGN Contributor and Karla Bonoff included — who escaped
being told how to dress or what music to
During her recording career, Linda make. Ronstadt was taken when she saw
Ronstadt’s voice was incredibly powerful; Harris perform, and the two became friends.
she could deliver goosebumps or tears in Moreover, Ronstadt helped Harris recover
equal measure. after her partner Graham Parsons’ death.
“Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice,” The film uses camaraderie between women
directed by out gay filmmakers Rob Epstein to acknowledge the sexism in the male-dom-
and Jeffrey Friedman opens September 13 inated music industry. Epstein and Friedman
at the Landmark Ritz East and recounts the also recount the attitudes of men band mem-
life and career of the singer who retired bers who complained about “working for a
Q Puzzle “ALOTO”)
39 Some G.M. cars
4 South Pacific king-
dom
fruitcake
35 Dancer Tommy
from performing in 2009 due to Parkinson’s
disease.
chick singer.” This prompts a brief discus-
sion of the difficulties of life on the road and
The Songs of the 41 W.H. Auden’s 5 Liberace fabric 37 Have an orgasm the lure of drugs.
Ronstadt, as the film shows, was able to
Gay “A League of wrench 6 Eater of forbidden in the vicinity of?
sing almost anything — and she did, scoring But the documentary never stays down-
Their Own” 42 Guys who use fruit, and others 38 Frost starter
come-on lines 7 “Scram!” to 39 Frolics about the hit records in the genres of country, folk- beat for too long — even when Ronstadt’s
Across 44 Not even once, to Gomer streets of Vegas? rock, rock and roll, standards, operetta and personal life is briefly addressed. The singer
1 Line in a Rita Mae Dickinson 8 You must remem- 40 Sculptor Lewis canciones. She harmonized famously with never married and espouses her attitudes
Brown novel? 45 Physique, infor- ber this 43 USMC barracks Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris for two about marriage in a telling clip. She was
5 No longer jail bait mally 9 Bochco TV drama boss “Trio” albums. She could put out a power romantically involved with songwriter J.D.
10 Straddling 48 Colette’s Mrs. 10 Words used in 45 Name in the ballad (“Blue Bayou”), a country-rock tune Souther, who recalls an amusing story about
14 Tow job 49 Queen, to a setting the tempo “Southern Voice” (“When Will I Be Loved”) or a rock number, asking Ronstadt to make him dinner. In
15 St. Teresa’s town dealer 11 Justin Suarez of 46 The king of fairies (“You’re No Good”) and they would be mon- contrast, her relationship with California
16 Half of “Lois and 52 “We’ll see” “Ugly Betty,” for one 47 “ ___ Hearts” Governor Jerry Brown is scrutinized in a TV
ster hits. She was the most successful female
Clark” 54 “Livin’ on a 12 Juicy fruits 50 Admits openly
singer of the 1970s, selling out arenas only interview that shows Ronstadt’s moxie when
17 Where to find hot Prayer” band (from 13 Jolly Roger fliers 51 Out of bed
the gay “ALOTO”) 21 Stuff in a closet 53 Threesome mem- to shift gears and perform on curtained the- she talks about politics and defends perform-
buns
18 Music genre of 56 “Blackbird” 23 Dyke’s latex ber for Dumas atre stages. ing in South Africa.
Roddy Bottum band (from the gay 25 Wilde country 55 Iwo ___ The film shows what made Ronstadt so “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice”
19 Become frayed “ALOTO”) 29 Assholes 56 Tan at South remarkable: she heard a song once and briefly touches on her activism. (She was an
20 “Hazy Shade of 58 “Tell me ___ hav- 30 What you can Beach knew exactly how to sing it. Unlike the advocate for LGBTQ rights, but that goes
Winter” cover band, en’t heard!” take from me 57 Language of 25- up-and-coming singer-songwriters of the unmentioned). The documentary also raises
with “The” (from the 59 Landau’s “Ed 32 Mother of Chaz Down era, Ronstadt did not pen her own tunes but points about her lack of confidence, as well
gay “A League of Wood” award 33 NASDAQ rival 60 Org. in many spy covered other musicians’ works, often reviv- as her loneliness. While viewers may wish
Their Own” 61 Put on the staff 34 Not nutty as a movies for more details about her personal life,
ing a once-popular or lesser-known song and
22 “Like a Virgin” 62 “Kinsey” title role
making it her own. After hearing Ronstadt’s Epstein and Friedman cherry-picked the
singer (from the gay portrayer Neeson
63 Michael of “Jef- version of any song, it is impossible to hear moments to depict, and there are some great
“ALOTO”)
24 Big name in China frey” the original the same way. And there are nuggets, such as her offhanded remark about
25 “The Music Man” 64 ___ about enough on-screen performances of her hits The Doors, her role in helping assemble the
setting (roughly) — “Heart Like a Wheel” and “Get Closer,” Eagles and her determination to record with
26 Star’s rep 65 Lesbian juggler among them — to satisfy wistful fans. Aaron Neville after seeing him perform in
27 Porking place? Felder “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” New Orleans.
28 Home st. of 66 Hisser shaped is a comfortable, conventional documen- The power Ronstadt derives from vul-
Maupin like a pisser tary that features Ronstadt via voiceover nerability is felt when watching her sing on
31 Janis Joplin’s 67 Put out screen. Her brown eyes look right through
and utilizes archival footage, performances,
Bobby photographs and interviews — Dolly Parton the camera. The emotion in her voice rips
33 Most straight, at Down
1 Vehicles for explor- describes Ronstadt’s perfectionism — to right through the viewers, in songs like the
a bar?
36 Big name in oil ing Uranus show how she started singing and found Eagles’ “Desperado,” or “Lose Again.” This
37 “Girls Just 2 Pianist Oscar success. film will delight fans and renew appreciation
Want to Have Fun” 3 How many gay Growing up in an isolated area in Tucson, for the singer who bemoans that her voice
singer (from the gay people live Arizona, and in a family that loved music, “has lost its colors.” n

THEATER & ARTS
Chico Bean
The comedian and actor seen
on MTV’s “Wild ‘n Out” per-
forms Sept. 13-14 at Punch Line
Philly, 33 E. Laurel St.; 215-
606-6555.
Danseur
Pennsylvania Ballet hosts a
screening of the film explor-
ing the social and societal chal-
lenges of boys who choose to
study ballet, 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412
Chestnut St.; 267-239-2941.
Hamilton
The smash-hit blockbuster
musical makes its Philly debut,
through Nov. 17 at Kimmel’s
Forrest Theatre, 1114 Walnut St.
St.; 215- 923-1515.
Herbert Ferber: Form into Space
Philadelphia Museum of Art
presents an exhibition featuring
sculptures and related drawings
that Herbert Ferber (1906-91)
created during the 1950s — the
artist’s most creative period,
through Jan. 5, 26th Street and
the Parkway; 215-763-8100.
Horace Pippin: From War to Peace
Philadelphia Museum of Art
presents an exhibition of paint-
ings highlighting Pippin’s pur-
suit of a range of themes, from
racial violence and the alien-
ation of war to the serene beauty
of his home in Chester County,
Pennsylvania, through Oct., 2,
26th Street and the Parkway;
215-763-8100.
Mimi Imfurst Presents Drag Diva
Brunch
Mimi Imfurst and special guests
perform 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept.
14 at Punch Line Philly, 33 E.
Laurel St.; 215-606-6555.
PGN LISTINGS
ENTERTAINMENT Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 27
‘STEADY’ AS SHE GOES: Grammy-winning folk singer-song-
entertainment listings
Drag Bingo Brunch
A fundraiser benefiting
writer, Shawn Colvin, is celebrating the 30th anniversary
of the 1989 debut album, “Steady On,” by performing
Take the Lead Dance
the entire album in an intimate acoustic concert, 8
Project offering conti-
nental breakfast, bingo p.m. Sept. 17 at World Café Live, 3025 Walnut
and performances by St. For more information or tickets call 215-222-
Maria Topcatt and Onyx 1400. PHOTO CREDIT: Deidre Schoo
Ondyx, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Sept. 15 at Society Hill Sept. 19-21 at Christ Church
Dance Academy, 409 S. 2nd Neighborhood House, 20 N.
St..; 215-574-3574 American St.;
215-413-1318.
9 to 5: The Musical
Theatre Non-Conforming
presents the stage adapta-
Young Frankenstein: The Musical
Walnut Street Theatre presents
tion of the classic workplace the stage adaptation of Mel
comedy, through Sept. 29 at
Brook’s classic comedy, through
Centre Theater, 208 Dekalb St., Oct. 20, 825 Walnut St.; 215-
Norristown; 267-789-9249. 574-3550.
Queer Bait: Sterile
Comedians Rose Luardo and
Shannon Fahey perform their
MUSIC Robert Plant
Fringe Show, through Sept. 14
and The Sensational
at Good Good Comedy Theatre,
Outlaw Music Festival Space Shifters
Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, The rock singer and Led
215 N. 11th St.; 215-399-1279. Alison Krauss and Gov’t Mule Zeppelin frontman performs, 7
perform, 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at p.m. Sept. 17 at Mann Center
#QueerLifePHL Mann Center for the Performing for the Performing Arts, 5201
William Way LGBT Community
Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave.; 215- Parkside Ave.; 215-546-7900.
Center hosts an exhibition 546-7900.
exploring how we use our
phones as a tool to record and
Bloc Party NIGHTLIFE
Meek Mill The electro-rock band performs
communicate our stories and The Philly rapper performs 7:30 8 p.m. Sept. 17 at Franklin
how, by sharing, we create a
Gay Mis: A Parody Musical
p.m. Sept. 13 at BB&T Pavilion, Music Hall, 421 N. Seventh St.; Philly Fringe presents
sense of identity, expression 1 Harbour Blvd.; 856-365-1300. 215-627-1332. a musical parody of “Les
and, ultimately, an act of resis- Miserables,” Sept. 14-15
tance by refusing to be erased, at Franky Bradley’s, 1320
Sept. 13-Oct. 25, 1315 Spruce
Streetlight Manifesto Lizzo
The ska-punk band performs The R&B singer performs, 8 Chancellor St.; 215-735-
St; 215-732-2220 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at Franklin p.m. Sept. 18 at The Met, 858 N. 0735.
Music Hall, 421 N. Seventh St.; Broad St.; info@TheMetPhilly.
Significant Other 215-627-1332. com.
Mauckingbird Theatre
Burlesque-N-Beyond
A free festival for cabaret
Company presents a heartfelt culture, 9 p.m. Sept. 18 at
comedy about a gay, Jewish
Babymetal B-52’s with Berlin and O.M.D.
The J-pop/metal band performs The new wave bands perform, Franky Bradley’s, 1320
man in his late 20s, searching 8 p.m. Sept. 13 at The Fillmore 7 p.m. Sept. 19 at Mann Center Chancellor St.; 215-735-
for a relationship and commit-
Philadelphia, 29 E. Allen St.; for the Performing Arts, 5201 0735.
ment, through Sept. 15 at The 215-309-0150. Parkside Ave., 215-546-7900.
Drake’s Bluver Theatre, 302 S.
Hicks St.; www.mauckingbird. Judah & the Lion Stone Temple Pilots and Rival OUTTA TOWN
org. The alternative rock band per-
Sons
forms, 8 p.m. Sept. 13 at The The rock bands perform, 7 p.m. Get the Led Out
Un Poyo Rojo Met, 858 N. Broad St.; info@ Sept. 19 at The Met, 858 N. The Led Zeppelin tribute
Fringe Fest presents the charis-
TheMetPhilly.com. Broad St.; info@TheMetPhilly. band performs 8 p.m. Sept.
matic Argentinian duo Un Poyo com. 13 at The Queen, 500 N.
Pojo who explore the God is an Astronaut Market St., Wilmington,
range of possible The alternative rock band Adam Ant Del.; 202-730-3331.
relationships performs, 9 p.m. Sept. 13 at The new wave rock musician
among Underground Arts, 1200 performs, 8 p.m. Sept. 20 at Tony Woods
men, Callowhill St.; 215-627-1332. Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad The comedian performs 7:30
St.; 215-893-1999. and 9:45 p.m. Sept. 14 at The
ZZ Top Queen, 500 N. Market St.,
The rock band performs 7 p.m. Tycho Wilmington, Del.; 202-730-
Sept. 15 at BB&T Pavilion, 1 The electronic artist performs 3331.
Harbour Blvd.; 856-365-1300. 8:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at Franklin
Music Hall, 421 N. Seventh St.; Rock ‘n’ Roll High School
215-627-1332. The classic rebellious com-
THE CITY OF BURGER-LY LOVE:
edy celebrates its 40th anni-
Massive Attack versary with a screening,
Several Philly restaurants are The trip-hop group performs, 9 9:45 p.m. Sept. 20 at The
throwing their best burgers into p.m. Sept. 20 at The Met, 858 N. Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge
the ring for the 2019 Burger Broad St.; info@TheMetPhilly. St., Phoenixville; 610-917-
Brawl, an annual culinary compe- com. 1228. n
tition and fundraiser that raises
money for technology programs at
local elementary and middle schools, NOTICES: Send notices at least one week in advance to:
1-5 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Philadelphia Out & About Listings, PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
Navy Yard. For more information or fax: 215-925-6437 or e-mail: listings@epgn.com.
tickets, visit www.phillyburgerbrawl.com. Notices cannot be taken over the phone.
28 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
‘Buffy’-inspired podcast will slay Philly audiences
BY JEREMY RODRIGUEZ
PGN Contributor
On September 26, 2000, Buffy Summers
faced off against Dracula on the television
series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
On September 13, 2019 — nearly two
decades after the episode aired — Kristin
Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs will bring
their trademark banter, sense of humor and
queer-feminist analysis to the episode during
a sold-out live taping of the duo’s Buffy-
rewatch podcast, “Buffering the Vampire
Slayer,” at World Cafe Live.
After a four-month hiatus, the hosts return
to podcasting platforms to discuss the televi-
sion series’ fifth season. Russo and Youngs
hosted live tapings in several cities during the
podcast’s previous seasons, but the taping of
“Buffy Vs. Dracula” — the season five pre-
miere — marks the first time in Philadelphia.
“Philadelphia has been a loud city since the
very beginning,” Russo laughed, noting the
podcast’s fanbase in the area.
“We’re giving the people what they want,”
Youngs joked.
“Yeah, we’re good listeners,” Russo fired
back.
“Buffering the Vampire Slayer” features
Russo and Youngs recapping and discussing
every episode of “Buffy,” one at a time, in
chronological order. While ”Buffy” has been
PGN
off the air for more than 15 years, the hosts
keep discussions spoiler-free for first-time
viewers watching the series in tandem with
the podcast. Russo and Youngs even upheld
their spoiler-free rule when discussing plans
for season five with PGN.
Russo said the fifth season contains what
she calls one of the best episodes of televi-
sion, referring to episode 16, “The Body.”
“It just reaches into the inside of your
person and rips your heart right out of your
chest,” Russo said. “It so vividly depicts the
experience of grief and loss in real-time, in
a way that I have never seen before.”
Russo added the hosts intend to treat
the episode as reverently as season four’s
episode “Hush” — a two-part discussion
featuring cast interviews and musical col-
laborations — but “obviously in a very
different way.”
Russo and Youngs will once again take
special care this season when writing and
producing recap songs that appear at the
end of each episode. The songs are usually
written from Buffy’s perspective — with
Youngs singing the role of the titular char-
acter — but they also feature musical col-
laborations.
“I can tell you that [musician] Chris
Farren will be reprising his role as Xander
in the first episode because Xander and
Buffy both kind of have parallel experi-
ences with Dracula.
Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs Photo: Corey Hayes
So, it’s a little bit of a duet — a Childish
Gambino-inspired duet,” Youngs teased.
Additionally, Youngs noted plans for
Dawn (played by Michelle Trachtenberg in
the television series), a new character intro-
duced at the end of the season five premiere.
“I don’t want to reveal too much, but we
have somebody in mind to join us as Dawn
that I think people will be delighted by,”
Youngs said.
Dawn has been received as one of the
show’s most controversial characters, but
Russo and Youngs are mum on voicing their
opinions ahead of the podcast.
“What is there to say?” Youngs said.
“She’s been here this whole time.”
“Yeah. I’ve liked her since season one,”
Russo added. “I think she’s grown a lot.”
Longtime “Buffy” fans will understand
the humor behind this banter while first-
time viewers will get the joke as the season
continues.
Throughout season five, the queer hosts
will continue to unpack the reasons why
“Buffy” resonates with LGBTQ-plus audi-
ences.
“There’s the literal queer characters, and
then there’s the metaphors we get to pull out
— ‘coming out’ as the Slayer,” Russo said.
“I also feel like the narrative of continuing
to stand up and fight is something that we
are super immersed in as a queer commu-
nity. It’s ripe for the picking.”
One theme of season five is the idea of
chosen family, which resonates not only
with queer people but with the “Buffering”
fandom. The podcast has a secret Facebook
group of more than 2,000 Patreon support-
ers. Russo and Youngs also host meetups
and an annual “Buffy” prom, which sold out
in Los Angeles in 2018 and New York City
in March. While busy with details for the
third-annual prom, the hosts reflect on the
community they’ve created.
“It’s definitely shaped our lives irrevers-
ibly,” Russo said. “You all are finding each
other. We’re finding you. You’re finding us.
And we all get to talk about these really
important things that resonate with us in
very fun ways.”
“It’s the most emotional thing to get to
witness other people connecting to the show
and to each other,” Youngs added. “It’s a lot
to witness and behold on a daily basis, and
any time we do a live taping or prom, I need
a two-day period immediately following so
I can just cry whenever I need to. It is so
beautiful to get to see the way that people
get to love each other because they love
‘Buffy.’” n
The “Buffering the Vampire Slayer” discussion
of “Buffy Vs. Dracula,” live at World Cafe Live,
will be available on all podcast platforms Sept.
18. For more information, visit www.buffer-
ingthevampireslayer.com.
 PGN
PROFILE Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 29

FAMILY PORTRAIT | SUZI NASH |

Mason Darrow: Are you ready for some football?

I might be a femme whose closest associa- were because of some girl he was going to MD: I would say so, though I was probably I thought you were going to tell me you
tion to any kind of sports’ career consisted of a be pissed. more involved than I was talented, which I were hurt!” I told him about the story we
short stint playing softball to obtain my lesbian figured out eventually. wanted to do and he was very supportive.
card and being almost knocked unconscious on PGN: I guess his gaydar was a little off the He contacted our public relations team to
a tennis court by a ball machine. But whatever I mark. PGN: What was it about football that felt make sure that everything went smoothly.
lack in physical prowess, I make up in enthusi- MD: True, so I had a decision to make. I right?
asm when watching sports, especially the game knew I didn’t want to stay in the closet my MD: I was always a little bigger than every- PGN: I read that. I also read that he pub-
of football. I’m not alone; estimates show that whole time at Princeton, and I figured it one else, so it felt like it made the most lished a statement that said, “Here at
women make up roughly half of all NFL fans, was time to rip off the Band-Aid, so I told sense. As I got more involved, I began to Princeton, if we can’t handle this and say
even though few of us work in meaningful him that it was quite the opposite. He didn’t appreciate the beauty in the sport, the col- we’re supportive of everybody no matter
positions. That is slowly and happily changing quite get it, so I came out and said, “I’m laboration and the teamwork involved. And what their background, religion, race or sex-
as women are breaking glass ceilings daily, but gay.” the violence as well, it has its own beauty in ual orientation, then we don’t have the right
what of LGBTQ-plus acceptance? terms of what you’re able to put your body guys in the locker room.”
In 2015, Darrow was a strapping 6’5” 285- PGN: Wow. What was his response? through in order to perform at your highest MD: Yeah, it was a pretty amazing expe-
pound offensive linebacker. The Princeton MD: [Laughing] He said that he didn’t see level. You don’t see that in many sports. rience all around. In the whole time I was
player wasn’t afraid of much, but the idea that one coming but that it was fine with there, I didn’t have a single negative reac-
of coming out and being ostracized from his him. He told me that no one was going to PGN: I like the complexity of the game; it’s tion, not one.
friends and teammates was terrifying. With be bothered by it, that the only thing peo- like a chess match with tackling.
a little prompting from a teammate, Darrow ple were going to care about was if I had a MD: Yes, it’s much more of a mental and PGN: That’s great to hear. What was your
faced his fears and was surprised to find an good work ethic on the team or not. Then intellectual game than people give it credit major at Princeton?
even tighter brotherhood on the gridiron. I we ordered mozzarella sticks and played for. MD: I majored in economics and minored in
learned about Darrow from a touching ESPN video games like we usually did before a big German. I originally wanted to be pre-med
video my brother, a former collegiate player, game. PGN: When Michael Sam came out, did but quickly realized that wasn’t for me. I
sent to me. that have any effect on you? thought about finance as well but kept grav-
According to OutSports, only 12 openly gay PGN: It’s amazing how one person can help MD: He came out after I’d come out to itating to the sports industry. After graduat-
players have been in the NFL and most came set a positive tone. the team but before I went public with it. I ing, I spent about a year with the Cleveland
out after retiring. In 1975, Dave Kopay was MD: Definitely. He was from the conser- remember sitting with a friend and watch- Indians doing sales and strategy and a year
the first player to come out — three years after vative town of Middleburg, Florida, which ing SportsCenter when the story broke, and working at Madison Square Garden. Now
retiring from a nine-year career. was more like Mississippi than Miami, so my friend was like, “Aw Mase, you should I’m back at Princeton doing fundraising
when he was fine with it, I knew it was have done that first. We could have been on and development. I’ve been back here for a
PGN: When did you first think you might going to be OK. After that, a lot of the guys SportsCenter!” I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever,” month, and it’s been fantastic.
be gay? asked me about it. One guy said he wouldn’t and lo and behold two years later there I
MD: I’d say late middle school, early high believe it until he heard it from me. Once was. PGN: Why German?
school is when I started to put it all together, I confirmed it, he told me he’d never had a MD: I liked the literary nature of the study,
and by the time I was in college, I knew gay friend before but was cool with it. We PGN: But you had to break it to your coach and it was a nice break from the math-driven
for sure, but was still living in the closet. I went on to become roommates. Bob Surace first. classes. I also have some German on both
didn’t really struggle with being gay, just MD: Yeah, the team and I had kind of kept sides of the family. Both my siblings took
being open about it. PGN: Did you come out to your family it amongst ourselves; we didn’t want it to it too.
before the team? become a thing. But then I decided to go
PGN: How instrumental was your team- MD: No, I initially told a few close friends public. I knew how much it meant to me to PGN: Have you been? And were you able to
mate, Caleb Slate, in your coming out jour- who were not involved in football. After see openly gay athletes, people who seemed check out the gay scene there?
ney? telling Caleb, the word kind of spread from more like me and thought, “If I can help MD: Yes, twice. I took a semester abroad
MD: He was a big part of it. there. I told some people and, with my per- some sophomore in Arizona come out to his during the summer of my freshman
mission, he told the rest of the team. About teammates and be comfortable in himself, year and went back last fall for
PGN: Tell me what happened. a week later, my family was in town for one then I need to do it.” I contacted OutSports my sister’s birthday. She
MD: I knew I was gay, and I’d told a few of the games so I told them too. and they were interested in doing a story wanted to run the
people. I thought about telling the guys so I called my coach and said we needed to Berlin mar-
on the team, but there was a fear of how PGN: Tell me about growing up in talk. The year before, I’d torn my ACL and
they would react. It was getting harder to Barrington, Illinois. because I was so serious when I set up the
keep myself compartmentalized, and the MD: I have two siblings, and they both meeting he thought maybe I’d tweaked
distraction showed in my playing and my played a lot of sports, so I popped around it or was leaving the team for
demeanor. Caleb noticed and asked if I was trying a lot of different things: swimming, some reason. When I told
OK. Not wanting to get into it, I just said lacrosse, horseback riding, basketball, base- him I was gay he
that I had some personal stuff I was thinking ball and then zeroed in on football in high said, “That’s
about, but that I was fine. He wasn’t hav- school. My brother played basketball for great!
ing it and told me to come talk to him after Princeton four years before I got there, and
dinner. I was scared to death and at first my sister was a rower at Williams College.
thought of texting him to say that something
else had come up or just not showing up. PGN: What was your favorite thing to do
But you have a special bond on the team, with the family?
especially with your fellow linesmen, and MD: I always liked playing sports and
that was out of the question. So I met with watching my siblings play. I was the young-
him in his room after dinner, and, at first, est so I was usually getting dragged around
I tried to sidestep the issue, but he kept to different games and tournaments. I spent
focused on finding out what was going on a lot of time in the car.
with me. When I asked him about his girl-
friend to stall for time, he laughed and said PGN: It seems like you were pretty athletic
if my mood and poor showing on the field from the start. PAGE 34
30 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 PGN
THEATER
STUDIO/ 1-BR LIVING Out Philly performer talks
OPPORTUNITIES AT FOULKEWAYS Wawa-centered play
LIFE, on a
Scale of You.
“Tribe of Fools Operation: Wawa Road Trip.”
Jahzeer Terrell and Taiwo Sokan
Photo: Dallas Padoven Photography
BY CAMERON KELSALL
PGN Contributor
Tribe of Fools — a theater company that
combines traditional playmaking with move-
There’s always an opportunity to ment-centered storytelling — is known for
enjoy the outdoors and make new producing work with a lot of local flair. The
friends. Foulkeways is based on company’s entry in this year’s Philadelphia
foulkeways.org | 215-283-7010 Fringe Festival will be no different.
Quaker values and respect for the
1120 Meetinghouse Rd, Gwynedd, PA “Operation: Wawa Road Trip,” running
environment. Discover us today! Sept. 6-21 at Proscenium at the Drake
Theatre, follows a pair of siblings who travel
A Life Plan Community from Dayton to Philly to enact their father’s
dying request: that his ashes be scattered in
COMPLIMENTARY LUNCH WITH TOUR the parking lot of the beloved convenience
store chain.
Out Philly performer Zachary Chiero has
long been a key player within the company,
as both an actor and choreography. For this
LET'S TALK
production, he takes on the task of telling
this uniquely Philadelphian story through
dance, acrobatics and circus movement.
PGN spoke with Chiero about the compa-
ny’s particular aesthetic, how he balances
a thriving career as an in-demand actor and
ABOUT
dancer and his love of Wawa.
PGN: What came first for you: acting or
dancing?
ZC: It was definitely acting. I always liked
creating strange and silly characters, and I
just love embodying other people and try-
PrEP, BABY.
ing to figure out how they think. But I’ve
also always been a very physical person; I
talk with my hands a lot, and I’m inclined
toward the physical side of storytelling.
Working as a choreographer came later, but
physicality was always a part of the kind of
performance I did.
One pill. Once a day. Prevents HIV.
PGN: How did you become involved with
Tribe of Fools?
ZC: Ten years ago, I was on tour
with Enchantment Theatre Company,
a children’s theater company here in
PrEPdelco.com Philadelphia. Terry Brennan, the founder
and artistic director of Tribe of Fools, was
Chester: 610.872.9101 our company manager — and shortly after
that, he became my roommate. He needed
some help with a production of “Dracula”
Sharon Hill: 610.583.1177 they were doing, and I started out as a
house manager. Soon he started asking me
to audition, and like that, I’ve been a part
of the company pretty much every year
since then.
PGN: Movement is at the heart of every
Tribe of Fools show. How do you begin to
create choreography for an original work,
knowing that it is going to be so integral to
how the story is told?
ZC: We start a lot with themes and general
outlines, even before casting has started,
and we talk about what kind of vocabulary
we see ourselves exploring and what kind
of movement will be useful for the story we
want to tell. Sometimes we’ll say, “I think
we want to open with this kind of move-
ment sequence” to get the show going.
Brainstorming happens as we’re developing
the idea, and we hone in on it when casting
is complete because then we have an idea
of what skills people are bringing to the
table. I kind of craft everything with Joe
[Ahmed], the director, or with Terry, who
is often the acrobatics consultant. We see
how we can feature our actors to the best of
their abilities and use those elements to tell
the story.
PGN: What can you tell me about
“Operation: Wawa Road Trip”?
ZC: I really am excited for this show. I feel
like it’s going to be a stretch for us. The
show deals with the idea of family, of loss
and grief, and the things we tell ourselves
and our loved ones in order to cope. Having
those themes at the heart makes for some
very touching moments throughout the
show — but, of course, we need to incor-
porate our signature big, physical style.
Putting the story in a road-trip setting gives
us plenty of room for wacky misadventures
and ridiculous characters, of which there
will be many. It tickles me quite a bit, and
I’m looking forward to seeing all the amaz-
ing characters come to life. And you see a
real character arc with the two main char-
acters, which will be very quintessentially
Tribe of Fools but also a little out there.
I’m really proud of Joe and of our writer
Caitlin [Corkery] for the work they’ve
done.
PGN: Of course, I have to ask: As someone
who lives in Philadelphia, what is your per-
sonal relationship with Wawa?
ZC: I went to school in Allentown, and
that was my first exposure to Wawa. I’m
from New York, so the closest equivalent I
had growing up was 7-11...but Wawa is so
far beyond that. I have developed a deep
love of Wawa over my 10 years living in
Philadelphia. In my first few years of tour-
ing, too, I got a taste of the Sheetz life, and
I have to say that I’m definitely a Wawa
boy. n
“Operation: Wawa Road Trip” runs Sept. 6-21
at the Proscenium at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks
Street. Tickets and information can be found at
fringearts.com/event/operation-wawa-road-trip/.

Debut novel depicts a young queer man’s indecision
BY GARY M. KRAMER
PGN Contributor
Richard, the hero of James Gregor’s cap-
tivating debut novel, “Going Dutch” (Simon
& Schuster, 2019), is a queer, 20-something
graduate student pursuing a PhD in medieval
Italian literature. Richard suffers from crip-
pling writer’s block and, as a result, is in peril
of losing his funding.
His academic challenges distract Richard
from other issues regarding money, housing
and love. Even with the foundation grant he
receives for his research, he is almost always
close to broke. An uncomfortable room-
mate situation makes his Brooklyn apartment
claustrophobic, and he has to move. His love
life is a mess. Richard is infatuated with his
unavailable best friend, Patrick, but he also
becomes romantically involved with both
Blake, a young man he meets online, and
Anne, a smart fellow graduate student in his
department.
“Going Dutch” is a compelling, page-turn-
ing drama of self-destruction. Richard may
be selfish or unlikeable — especially when
he denies the truth or acts defensive — but
Gregor engagingly depicts Richard’s clumsy
navigation of both his professional and per-
sonal life.
As Richard and Anne become friendly, she
helps him with his research by writing papers
with — but actually for — him. While their
PGN
LITERATURE Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 31
“collaboration” is a bad decision, they each come more from the benefits he receives than diplomacy” of dating. That said, the language
get something out of it. Richard is able to from true, romantic love. Gregor lets readers at times becomes precious, as when Gregor
stay afloat academically and financially, and connect those dots and puzzle out the emo- writes, “A yolky suggestion of ozone blan-
he genuinely likes Anne. Anne gets the tions. This is his choice as the author, keted New Jersey,” but such groaning imag-
companionship she desires. but it would have been richer ery is kept to a minimum.
On a trip to a confer- to more directly address Gregor also keenly observes the nature of
ence in Montreal, Anne Richard’s sexual fluid- relationships. When Richard considers telling
and Richard sleep ity. Instead, Gregor Patrick about Anne, he hesitates, realizing
together. In a sce- uses the two rela- that such a revelation could possibly end their
nario right out tionships to build closeness. And “Going Dutch” depicts the
of a romance tension, as suffocating effect both Anne and Blake have
novel, the pair Richard strug- on Richard — they each want him to move
are forced to gles to con- in with them — and how that paralyzes him.
share a bed in ceal the other If Richard does not always seem loveable,
a hotel room, relationship never mind. The decisions Richard ultimately
which eventu- from each of makes as things play out provide the story’s
ally leads, one his lovers. drama.
drunken night, This means What makes “Going Dutch” satisfying is
to fumbling and that Richard that the author takes his time describing char-
passion (sex), must text Anne acters and their relationships, allowing read-
as well as some while he is on a ers to become invested. Gregor devotes pages
added complications meet-the-parents to outlining Richard’s history with Patrick
— mostly stemming date with Blake, or and delves into the details of meals shared by
from Richard simulta- text Blake when he is Anne and Richard and conversations between
neously seeing the irresist- spending time with Anne. Blake and Richard about children or cooking.
ible Blake. There is an unwritten Both of Richard’s lovers com- Readers come to know these characters so
rule that when someone long single finally plain that he is not spending enough time deeply that they will ache for Patrick’s love
gets into a relationship, another relationship with them. These exchanges are predictable, and approval, appreciate Anne’s company
opportunity will inevitably arise. but they lead to an awkward brunch when and largesse and hope that Richard and Blake
“Going Dutch” does not delve too deeply Blake and Anne eventually meet, much to will achieve domestic bliss. Readers will
into Richard’s bisexuality. The protagonist Richard’s chagrin. likely race to finish this perceptive novel to
never carefully contemplates his sexual rela- Regardless of plot contrivances, Gregor is see whom Richard chooses — if anyone. n
tionship with Anne — a missed opportunity, good with dialogue. He describes “fatigued
perhaps. His relationship with her seems to appliances” in a kitchen and “the milky Cover art courtesy of Simon and Schuster.
32 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 PGN

The Legendary out maestro talks

Guide to the upcoming opera
Gayborhood of the world every day. This libretto was
written originally for Anne Bracegirdle,
one of Britain's greatest actresses in
The Philadelphia Gayborhood is roughly the Restoration period. The Restoration
centered at Locust and Camac streets. Look for the was the first time women were legally
rainbow street signs at intersections and remember allowed to appear on stage, and women
on the stage inflamed the public. Anne
to be aware of your surroundings wherever you go. Bracegirdle was so beautiful that men
killed themselves in the street over her.
Boxers Toasted Walnut Woody’s Voyeur The Bike Stop She retired before she was able to per-
1330 Walnut St. 1316 Walnut St. 202 S. 13th St. 1221 St. James St. 206 S Quince St. form in a musical version of the libretto
facebook.com/ 215.546.8888 215.545.1893 215.735.5772 215.627.1662 Levi by the composer John Eccles, so the
boxersphl Festively lit woodysbar.com voyeurnightclub.com Leather men’s libretto was never performed, and Handel
Sports bar with women-owned bar Includes After-hours bar; pool tables, Gary Thor Wedow
inherited it. Handel is a great psycholo-
a TVs, pool table, complete with a attached Walnut private club; second floor
brick pizza oven, sports; basement gist and dramatist, so he responds to this
“beer” pong table Street bars membership
sports specials Rosewood and has enforced BY A.D. AMOROSI cautionary tale with some of his widest
required variety of musical styles, from grand
GloBar dress code PGN Contributor
opera, British cathedral sacred music and
Philadelphia’s binge-worthy opera fes- virtuosic Italian opera melodies to British
tival, O19, is here and features legendary music-hall tunes and some of his most
m m Walnut St.
out conductor Gary Thor Wedow. This intimate chamber music. He tears apart
<— year, he conducts the Opera Philadelphia the formal structures that he himself cod-
m m Chancellor St.
Orchestra in George Frideric Handel’s ified, and yet, at the same time, writes
“Semele” beginning September 19. beautiful fugues and classical symmetri-
Juniper St.

m m St. James St.

Wedow, a faculty member at Juilliard for cal forms.
25 years and master of Handel’s rippling
m musicality, sat down with PGN to talk PGN: How has it been to work with such
an acclaimed assembly that includes
about the upcoming production.
Locust St.
m soprano Amanda Forsythe, mezzo Daniela
PGN: What is your relationship to Mack and tenor Alek Shrader?
Latimer St.
Handel and the score of “Semele”? GTW: These are smart, smart singers who
Camac St.

Quince St.

m GTW: Handel is my dear, close friend. approach their roles like vocal athletes —
13th St.

12th St.

11th St.

<— Handel makes you really work at the top

m My first job, even while I was in graduate
r Manning St.
school at the New England Conservatory, of your vocal game — but who also think
like actors and bring a discerning view
r m was as associate conductor for the Handel
and Haydn Society of Boston. I've con- to their interpretation. They are critical
Spruce St. ducted a dozen of his operas, most of thinkers. No stand-and-sing mindless per-
them in several different productions, formances here.
Pa. bars close at 2 a.m. unless they have a and oratorios — he called “Semele” an
Cypress St. private-club license. Please drink responsibly. oratorio, but it is an opera! — along with PGN: How is it being LGBTQ in the
m many of his orchestral works and, of worlds of classical music and opera?
course, “Messiah,” which has been with GTW: I am very grateful to have been
Writer’s Block Rehab William Way U Bar Knock me all my life. I love how Handel chal- able to be out and welcomed from the
1342 Cypress St. LGBT Community 1220 Locust St. 225 S. 12th St.
215.925.1166 lenges your brain with his German struc- very beginning of my opera career, hav-
267.603.6960 Center 215.546.6660
A cozy, comfortable bar 1315 Spruce St. Relaxing corner knockphilly.com ture and pure harmony. But, his elegant ing been a very closeted student in the
and lounge perfect for 215.732.2220 bar, easy-going Fine-dining restaurant Italian melodic style caresses your heart Midwest. In Ellen Harris's book, “Handel
escaping the norm waygay.org crowd, popular for and bar, outdoor seat- and ear, and his librettos inspire your as Orpheus,” she “outs” Handel. The
A resource for all happy hour and ing, piano in back room imagination, and, in this case, he poses book was controversial when it was pub-
things LGBT window watching a very British moral tale. If Handel were lished, and, certainly, there is no direct
Frankie Bradley’s
1320 Chancellor St. a car, he would have a body by Ferrari, evidence that Handel was gay, but then
215-735-0735 motor by Audi and interior by Rolls- it was a very secretive and repressive
Resaturant, dance Tavern on Camac Tabu Royce. “Semele” is another familiar period for our gay predecessors. There is
club, live performers 255 S. Camac St. 254 S. 12th St. friend, having conducted it before, most a lot of indirect evidence about Handel,
and entertainment 215.545.8731 215.964.9675 recently in Seattle, and having grown up including his musical and text choices
Piano lounge with tabuphilly.com with it in various productions. and what we know about his close per-
upstairs dance floor; Three floors with a sonal friends. In Italy, they called him
<— <— Tavern restaurant dance floor,, drag
PGN: How do Handel’s melodies and “The Great German Bear.” I think opera
below is open late. shows, lounge and
rootop deck. arrangements work with the tale of jeal- asks us to express our innermost selves
West of Broad Street ousy and revenge found in “Semele”? and intimate emotions, so it is difficult
Bar X GTW: Handel almost never worked to be anyone other than oneself; there-
Stir Lounge The Attic Youth from an original libretto. The libretto of fore I think opera requires all of us to
1705 Chancellor St. Center 255 S. Camac St.
“Semele” is reused and refurbished from be ourselves, gay or straight or whatever
215.732.2700 255 S. 16th St. spectrum of the rainbow you are. Other
an earlier libretto by William Congreve,
stirphilly.com 215.545.4331 Bar and dancefloor
the great Restoration comedic play- performers and colleagues are usually
Fun two-bar atticyouthcenter.org
Safe space and programs wright. The text is brilliant: multilayered, amazingly open and supportive in return,
lounge, DJ in the
back, regular for LGBTs age 16-23 witty, insightful, cutting, political and especially if you can do your job. I imag-
poker games and weekday afternoons and heartbreakingly poignant. The question ine it has always been so. Gay people —
specials evenings of why we court ambition even though it who, I think, feel so intensely — are not
will literally destroy us is an eternal one. only attracted to opera, but are welcomed
We are seeing it played out on the stage into it. n
 SCENEPGN
IN PHILLY Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 33

PA R T O F F R I N G E F E S T :
‘GAY MIS’ AT FRANKY BRADLEY’S P H O T O S B Y K E L LY B U R K H A R D T

Cast of “Gay Mis” Kyle Rocco East, Jonathan J. Wallace, Shannon Turner, Jules Murtha and Colin O’Neal

Kathy Babe Robinson (Fontina) Brittany Marie (EPANINI) Chris McCollum (Jabear)

Topher Layton and Shannon Turner (MX THENARDIGAY) Eric Jaffe (narrator) and Brennen Malone as (Parmesan) Lili St. Queer
34 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019
The ever-controversial Morrissey gives nod to queer music
BY A.D. AMOROSI
PGN Contributor
One would imagine that, at age 60,
Morrissey — Brit-pop’s patron saint of all
things smartly smarmy, sexually obsessive,
slyly sensitive and dramatic — might have
tamed his theatrical side and tamped down
his impulse to provoke his devoted audi-
ences.
And yet on the stages of Camden’s
BB&T Pavilion on Monday night,
Morrissey — divine since fronting The
Smiths from 1982-87, and still handsome,
nattily dressed in a suit and loosely knotted
tie — spent a large part of the evening qui-
etly testing and subtly prodding his fans.
With a radically conflicted persona,
Morrissey has always pushed hot buttons
of gender and sexuality politics. As the
frontman of The Smiths, he claimed to be
celibate while referencing gay subculture
on stage and in lyrics. Since going solo, he
has called himself a “humasexual,” and he
very briefly discussed relationships with
men and women in interviews and his auto-
biography.
Morrissey has long been a reluctant
poster boy for the LGBTQ-plus movement.
On Monday, however, images including
Lypsinka and a dancing, smiling James
Baldwin were projected on the screen
behind him, an apparent ode to the gay
community.
Starting his long set with a raging version
of The Smith’s still statuesque “How Soon
Is Now,” Morrissey soon segued into sear-
ing solo classics like “Alma Matters” and a
piquant take on “Hairdresser on Fire.”
The Smiths’ songs “That Joke Isn’t Funny
Anymore” and the breathy “Everyday Is
Like Sunday” were far less manicured in a
live setting. These torrid tracks turned into
tight psychedelic swirls and a dense jun-
gle that his baritone croon punctured like
an ice pick, respectively; he slowed “The
Fox & Roach, REALTORS®
PGN
MUSIC
Bullfighter Dies” to a heartbreaking pace.
The audience loved the opening set,
waving bunches of flowers his way, eager
to touch his hand at the lip of the stage.
Even a cool, burly cover version of The
Pretenders’ “Back on the Chain Gang”
won favor.
One set of songs seemed to lose the audi-
ence, however — a grouping that seemed
to embrace the left-leaning and LGBTQ
values that Morrisey himself has often
rejected.
Moz’s most recent album, “California
Son,” features the king of Generation
Whine covering rare protest songs and gen-
der-bending anthems from the 1960s and
’70s. At the end of a decade of record-la-
bel snafus, bland albums, health problems,
gig cancellations and right-wing extremist
pin-wearing, “California Son” is a marvel-
ous tonic to the troubles of his recent past.
Morrissey hasn’t sounded this passionate
— full of guts, guile and unbridled emotion
— since 2004’s “You Are the Quarry.”
For a guy who rarely records other art-
ists’ work, Morrissey sunk his teeth into
the time period between 1964 and ’72 in
“California Son,” with weird brio, rich
melodramatics and full-blooded vigor —
possibly a commentary on his present
life, with a nod to the past.
On stage, Morrissey’s powerful and
lustrous take on Laura Nyro’s “Wedding
Bell Blues,” with its choir of carousels
and lyrics — “Bill, I love you so / I
always will” — seemed to confuse the
crowd. Why was Morrisey singing an
old Fifth Dimension song with quaint
chamber pop choruses? Along with a
tip-of-the-hat approval of same-sex mar-
riage, Morrissey created his best-ever gay
relationship paean, and I think the crowd
missed it.
He cut into the grandly melodic “Lady
Willpower” from Gary Puckett & the
Union Gap and then delivered his ver-
sion of the spaced-out chamber-glam hit
“Morning Starship” from Pennsylvania
glitter rocker Jobriath — after asking the
audience, “Do you know who Jobriath
is?”
Silence.
Morrissey hammed up his disgust but
truly must have been more than a lit-
tle disappointed that this hometown boy
(well, at least a neighbor), a quiet icon
PORTRAIT from page 27
athon. Octoberfest does a gay tent, which is
fun, but I didn’t get to any bars.
PGN: It’s funny that you were sort of a gay
icon without having a big connection to
the gay community. Has your connection
grown?
MD: Definitely. Coming out of the closet
made a big difference. Before that, I didn’t
really identify with the images I saw in
the media. I didn’t fit the stereotype, and
I didn’t know where I fit in. I live in New
York now, and I’ve gotten involved with a
lot of LGBT organizations. I play for a gay
football league and a gay basketball league,
and I go to a lot of drag shows. I’ve gotten a
better understanding and a greater apprecia-
tion for this fantastic community.
PGN: People must fight to have you on their
football team.
MD: Well, it’s a flag football team, so it’s
not quite the same. I was an offensive line-
man my entire career, so not being able to
slam people to the ground takes a lot of the
advantage out. Once you lose the physical-
ity, it evens the plane.
PGN: What was your best sports moment at
Princeton?
MD: The last game of my career. We were
playing Dartmouth and, on the last play, all I
had to do was snap the ball and let the quar-
terback take a knee for us to win the cham-
pionship. It was a great moment as a team.
BB&T Pavilion Sept. 9, 2019
Photo: Dan Drufovka
of early ’70s gay glam rock, who all but
died in obscurity, was not known to this
audience. Nevertheless, he let loose with
a lovely take on “Morning Starship,”
allowing its tale of outer space wonder
women to fly while his baritone voice
found its highest registers. It was easy to
see Morrissey loved this song, even if his
crowd missed its full resonance. n
PGN: So you were a center?
MD: Yes, I played mostly guard and
tackle my first three years, and my senior
year, I moved to center.
PGN: You’re close to Eagles country now,
what teams do you root for?
MD: I grew up a Chicago fan, so the
Bears, Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks...
PGN: BOOOOO!
MD: [Laughing] Yeah, we really loved
winning the Stanley Cup on your ice in
2010.
PGN: Just for that, we’re going right to
random questions! What’s something you
love that others dislike?
MD: Yellow Starbursts.
PGN: If your family had a mascot, what
would it be?
MD: Probably a moose; that was my
father’s childhood nickname. Apparently
he was a big baby.
PGN: Favorite three gay films?
MD: I love “Milk,” “Call Me by My
Name” and…“Love, Simon”
PGN: I read that you were part of a celeb-
rity bachelor auction and that when asked
for your best attributes, your answer was,
“My sense of humor and also my ass.”
MD: How did you find that? I plead the
Fifth. n
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 13-19, 2019 35

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 real-
estate advertising that is in violation of any applicable law.
PGN does not accept advertising that is unlawful, false,
misleading, harmful, threatening, abusive, invasive of another’s
privacy, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hateful or racially
or otherwise objectionable, including without limitation material of
any kind or nature that encourages conduct that could constitute
a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any
applicable local, state, provincial, national or international law or
regulation, or encourage the use of controlled substances.

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