Philadelphia Gay News
LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976 | VOL. 43 NO. 28 | JULY 12-18, 2019|
Family Portrait: Virtually created PAGE 7
Juno Rosenhaus LGBTQ community
PAGE 23
Enactment of federal ruling restricting Amber Hikes announces departure
LGBTQ medical access pushed back from Office of LGBT Affairs
By Laura Smythe Human Services announced June 29 it
laura@epgn.com would wait to implement the law, which
plaintiffs call the “denial of care” rule.
A Trump administration rule that A July 1 court order put the delay into
would allow medical professionals to effect.
refuse care based on religious or moral Plaintiffs in the case are represented by
objections will no longer go into effect Lambda Legal, Center for Reproductive
July 22. Rights Americans United for Separation
It has been pushed to at least Nov. of Church and State and pro bono rep-
22. following a legal battle brought on resentatives from international law firm
by several LGBTQ health centers and Mayer Brown LLP.
other medical organizations across the The lawsuit was filed May 28 in
country in the lawsuit County of Santa Northern District of California court. A
Clara v. Azar. Allentown’s Bradbury- motion for a preliminary injunction of
Sullivan LGBT Community Center the rule calling on the court to prohibit
and Philadelphia’s Mazzoni Center are the national department from enacting
plaintiffs. the rule was filed June 11.
The U.S. Department of Health and In response, the administration agreed
to push back the rule’s
inauguration. This pro-
vides time for the law-
suit to be heard in court,
said Adrian Shanker,
executive director of
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT
Community Center.
“LGBT people deserve
a high quality of health
and this rule would...
invite health care profes-
sionals to discriminate
against our community,”
he added. “Had this rule
been able to go into effect
immediately while the
case is being heard, it
BRADBURY-SULLIVAN LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER w o u l d PAGE 9
Philly welcomes annual Trans Wellness Conference
By Laura Smythe States are coming to Philadelphia to attend.
laura@epgn.com Hailed as the largest free trans-specific
conference in the world, the event explores
Understanding the legal rights of trans- health, spiritual and social issues expe-
people who are traveling internationally. rienced by the trans community. It will
Strategies for healing from top surgery or take place at the Pennsylvania Convention
binding. Effective communication and self- Center from July 25-27.
care skills for partners of trans and nonbi- The gathering aims to emphasize com-
nary folks. munity-building, educate and empower
These topics headline workshops at transpeople and inform health care pro-
the 19th iteration of Mazzoni’s annual viders and allies. It is divided into a free
Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference general track for the public and a paid
that about 10,000 from across the United professional track, which is a continu-
| HONESTY | INTEGRITY | PROFESSIONALISM |
LGBTQ digital
archive launches
PAGE 4
By Laura Smythe
laura@epgn.com
Amber Hikes, executive director of the
City’s Office of LGBT Affairs, will leave
her position July 31, drawing her two-
year tenure to a close, the Mayor’s Office
announced Tuesday.
Mayor Jim Kenney accepted Hikes’ res-
ignation earlier in the day.
Kenney appointed Hikes to
lead the office in March 2017.
Hikes said details of her next
steps will be revealed next
week, and declined to share
whether she’ll remain in
Philadelphia.
During the interim between
Hikes’ departure and the
hiring of her replacement,
senior staff from the City’s
Office of the Chief Diversity
and Inclusion Officer will
take point on the Office of
LGBT Affairs’ daily duties.
In a statement, Hikes said it
“has been an absolute honor”
to serve Philadelphia’s
LGBTQ community and she
is “in awe of what we’ve cre-
ated, healed and instituted in the last two
years.”
“None of this could have been done with-
out the support and participation of my fel-
low LGBTQ siblings and, of course, a will-
ingness to push for change from within the
ing-education program focused on clinical
knowledge and cultural competency for
professionals who work with trans, gender
nonconforming and nonbinary individuals.
Pro-track signups pay a fee for continuing
education credits and can choose a medical,
behavioral health or legal focus.
Transgender stand-up comedian and
actor Dina Nina Martinez, who has per-
formed at venues including Los Angeles
Pride and The Chicago Women’s Funny
Festival, will be the keynote speaker for the
general track. Anneliese A. Singh, asso-
Behavioral health org PAGE 6
adopts gender-
affirming model
administration,” she added. “Together, we
have moved the office from a local policy
shop to a formidable force for change. I am
grateful for my experience with the Kenney
administration, and look forward to seeing
the continued progress of our city when it
comes to advancing the rights, protections
and celebration of Philadelphia’s LGBTQ
community.”
Photo: Kelly Burkhardt
While serving as executive director,
Hikes led the charge on several initiatives
aimed at strengthening inclusion and inter-
sectionality in the LGBTQ community.
Recently, Hikes worked with the
Philadelphia Police
PAGE 17
ciate dean of the University of Georgia’s
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in
its College of Education, will appear as the
professional track’s keynote speaker. Singh
is cofounder of the Georgia Safe Schools
Coalition, which fights LGBTQ oppression
in the state’s educational institutions.
Other conference workshops will explore
trans rights in criminal court and prison and
the intersection of living with a disability
while being intersex. Representatives from
The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused
on LGBTQ suicide prevention, PAGE 4
2 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 LOCAL
PGN

Resource listings Local org partners with Truvada

Legal resources maker for a week of PrEP education
• ACLU of Pennsylvania: • Philadelphia Commission By Victoria A. Brownworth Wallace stressed that there are “miscon-
215-592-1513; aclupa.org on Human Relations — Rue PGN Contributor ceptions about PrEP and what it does and
• AIDS Law Project of PA: Landau: 215-686-4670 who are the people who should get it,”
Philadelphia FIGHT Community Health adding it will be good for “members of
215-587-9377; aidslawpa.org • Philadelphia Police Liai- Centers will host a week of free events the medical community who still might
• AIDS Law Project of South son Committee: 215-760- highlighting the importance and impact of not be on board with PrEP or who are on
Jersey: 856-784-8532; aid- 3686; ppd.lgbt@gmail.com PrEP next week. the fence about it.”
Philadelphia FIGHT is a comprehensive Wallace explained that some clinicians
slawsnj.org/ • SPARC — Statewide Penn- health services organization providing pri- are still unsure about the use of PrEP
• Equality PA: equalitypa. sylvania Rights Coalition: mary care, consumer education, research because they “really question the effec-
org; 215-731-1447 717-920-9537 and advocacy for people living with HIV/ tiveness of it or they cite possible resis-
AIDS and those at high risk. FIGHT’s tance to it — not understanding that the
• Office of LGBT Affairs — goal is to end the AIDS epidemic within research speaks for itself.”
Amber Hikes: 215-686-0330; the lifetime of those currently living with Greg Herren, who has been an HIV coun-
HIV. selor and educator since 2005, said, “For
amber.hikes@phila.gov Running July 15-20, PrEP Week com- someone my age, the success of PrEP in
memorates the date, July 16, 2012 — reducing infections is almost mind-bog-
Community centers when the FDA approved Truvada for PrEP gling. I just wish we’d had it sooner —
to reduce the risk of sexually acquired when I think about the people we lost, it’s
• The Attic Youth Center; 255 S. 16th St.; 215-545-4331, atticyouth- HIV infection. PrEP (pre-exposure pro- a little bittersweet.”
center.org. For LGBT and questioning youth and their friends and allies. phylaxis), if taken daily, can reduce the Herren added, “But I’m very glad
risk of HIV infection by more than 95 younger — and older — men have this
• LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania; 3907 Spruce percent. additional option to stay safe now.”
St.; 215-898-5044, center@dolphin.upenn.edu. According to the CDC, at the end of Philadelphia FIGHT will be profiling
• Rainbow Room: Bucks County’s LGBTQ and Allies Youth 2016, an estimated 1.1 million people numerous doctors and HIV educators, as
Center aged 13 and older had HIV infection in well as well-known HIV activist Damon
Salem UCC Education Building, 181 E. Court St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981 the U.S., including an estimated 162,500 Jacobs during PrEP week. There will be
ext. 9065, rainbowroom@ppbucks.org. whose infections had not been diagnosed. breakfasts with clinicians and members
Gilead, manufacturer of Truvada and of the community and a special work-
• William Way LGBT Community Center sponsor of PrEP Week, says at least shop at the Hospital of the University
1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220, www.waygay.org. 300,000 people globally have taken PrEP, of Pennsylvania Perelman Center for
with more than half of those living in the Advanced Medicine for delivering PrEP
U.S. As PGN reported in May, a landmark to cis women. A Healthy Sexual Mixer
Health and HIV testing study found that men whose HIV infec- on July 18 is scheduled at Tabu Lounge
tion was fully suppressed by anti-retrovi- and the Colours Organization will present
• Action Wellness: Spring Garden St.; 215- • Mazzoni Center: ral drugs had no chance of infecting their Legendary Thursdays Kiki Balls, also on
1216 Arch St.; 215- 769-3561; bebashi.org 1348 Bainbridge St.; partner. July 18. At the Mazzoni Center on July
981-0088, actionwell- • COLOURS: colour- 215-563-0652, mazzon- The study, published in the medical jour- 20, “PrEP Talk with Tatyana” will focus
ness.org sorganization.org, 215- icenter.org nal, “The Lancet,” considered transmis- on communities of color. And there will
• AIDS Healthcare 832-0100 sion rates from 1,000 male couples in be testing and PrEP discussion for several
• Philadelphia
Europe where one of the partners was HIV hours at sites all over the Philadelphia,
Foundation: 1211 • Congreso de Lati- FIGHT: 1233 Locust negative and the other was HIV positive from Center City to North Philly to
Chestnut St. #405 215- nos Unidos; 216 W. St.; 215-985-4448, and receiving treatment to suppress the Kensington.
971-2804; HIVcare.org Somerset St.; 215-763- fight.org virus. The study, led by Dr. Alison Rodger “No one else in the country is doing
• AIDS Library: 8870 • Washington West (University College London Institute for this,” Wallace said, noting that organiza-
1233 Locust St.; aidsli- • GALAEI: 149 W. Project of Mazzoni Global Health), found no cases where tions from other cities have been asking
brary.org/ Susquehanna Ave.; Center: HIV was transmitted to the HIV-negative about the program. “This is our first iter-
• AIDS Treatment 267-457-3912, galaei. 1201 Locust St.; 215- partner during unprotected sex. ation,” said Wallace. Next year he said
Fact line: 800-662- org. Spanish/English 985-9206 Jermel Wallace, Director of Community Philadelphia FIGHT hopes to “create an
6080 • Health Center No. 2: • Transgender Prevention, Navigation and PrEP Services annual event and take it around the coun-
• Bebashi-Transi- 1720 S. Broad St.; Health Action Coali- at Philadelphia FIGHT, told PGN that try.”
tion to Hope: 1235 215-685-1821 tion: 215-732-1207 PrEP Week is to showcase PrEP for com- Wallace, who has done HIV-related work
munities at risk from HIV as well as for since 1996, said he has had periods of sur-
clinicians who haven’t yet begun prescrib- vivor’s guilt over the years at being HIV-
ing PrEP to their patients. Wallace said, negative. Like Herren, he notes how many
Other “The importance of PrEP is ground break- members of the community have been lost
• Independence Branch Library Barbara Gittings Gay and ing in reducing the community viral load.” to HIV/AIDS. But the onset of PrEP use
Lesbian Collection: 215-685-1633 Mazzoni Center’s Dr. Marcus Sandling has made him hopeful for a future without
explained that since people tend to choose any more such deaths.
• Independence Business Alliance; 215-557-0190, Independence- their romantic and sexual partners from “No one in 2019 should be dying from
BusinessAlliance.com their own group, people are more likely to HIV/AIDS,” Wallace asserted. “We have
transmit HIV within those groups. This is the resources now to stop that from hap-
• LGBT Peer Counseling Services: 215-732-TALK what Wallace means when he says PrEP pening.” PrEP is one of those resources.
• PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and can reduce the community’s viral load. Philadelphia FIGHT is determined to
Gays (Philadelphia): 215-572-1833 Wallace hopes that people will “look at introduce it to Philadelphia and beyond.n
PrEP for those who can be exposed to A full schedule of PrEP Week events,
• Philly Pride Presents: 215-875-9288 HIV” and see that it is “the most viable times and places is available at fight.org/
option” available today in HIV prevention. prep-week-calendar. ■
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 3

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4 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 LOCAL
PGN

Digital LGBTQ archive launches, with corporate help

By Suzannah Cavanaugh
PGN Contributor
When the nation’s oldest active LGBTQ
organization mobilized in 1952, the queer
community didn’t exist on paper.
“There was no archival collection hold-
ing stories and artifacts to document
proof of queer life, art and culture,” said
Jennifer C. Gregg, executive director of
The ONE Archives Foundation. “When
we died, many of our families discarded
and destroyed the personal effects and
memories of our lives. We disappeared.
We were invisible.”
Nearly seven decades later, the non-
profit is launching the National LGBTQ
Digital Archive Hub, a one-stop database
of historical documents linked to the
LGBTQ experience and free for public
consumption.
“Like so many archives around the
country, The ONE Archives started with
our founders literally dumpster-diving to
save our discarded lives,” Gregg said.
Now, that effort is getting a boost from
one of the nation’s biggest companies.
Philadelphia-based Comcast
NBCUniversal announced it will donate
$150,000 to the archive project. The
funds will support the Archive Hub’s cur-
rent development phase: a working proto-
type of the open-source digital platform
that will host the LGBTQ archives.
“We are beyond appreciative to
Comcast for their steadfast support of the
much of which remains hidden and unex-
LGBTQ community,” said Gregg. “It’s
plored,” said Gregg. “We hope mate-
the first corporate sponsor and largest
rials from Stonewall and other acts of
donor of the project to date.” resistance — such as from the Black
The project’s ultimate goal is the dig-
Cat Tavern in Los Angeles, Dewey’s in
ital centralization of LGBTQ materials
Philadelphia and Compton’s Cafeteria
currently housed in dozens of archives,
in San Francisco — are preserved by
libraries and museums across the country.
archives around the country, as well as
Items to be digitized run the gamut
within the platform.”
of historical artifacts, from photographs,
The ONE Archives also teamed up with
letters and video clips to posters, visual
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of
art and historical records. Big-hitting
American History to establish a National
acquisitions include memorabilia from
Advisory Board of LGBTQ technolo-
the Stonewall Riots, whose 50th anniver-
gists, academics, activists, historians and
sary was marked by numerous events late
educators to inform and guide the digita-
last month. lization.
“The LGBTQ Digital Archive Hub will
“The National Advisory Board is vital
maximize public access to our shared
to creating a flexible and extensible
LGBTQ history, culture and knowledge,
online environment that can be expanded
to accommo-
date commu-
nity-building,
c o l l a b o r a t iv e
research, online
exhibitions and
tools for work-
ing with digi-
tal resources,”
Gregg noted.
When
archive project
launches next
year, materials
will be available
ARCHIVE ONE’S LGBTQ DIGITAL ARCHIVE HUB to researchers,
media members, schools and the general
public.
Comcast’s donation is part of a string
of initiatives the telecom titan has rolled
out to celebrate the LGBTQ community
during Pride Month and year-round.
“Comcast NBCUniversal has a rich
history of supporting the LGBTQ com-
munity, from creating a culture of inclu-
sion for our employees and their allies
to showcasing groundbreaking LGBTQ
content and talent,” said Juan Otero, the
company’s vice president of Diversity
and Inclusion.
The service provider’s LGBTQ-focused
efforts included 1,200 hours of free Pride
preview content made available to Xfinity
customers in early June, plus LGBTQ
film and TV recommendations by NYC
WorldPride Grand Marshal The Trevor
Project and MSNBC’s airing of the one-
hour documentary “Rebellion! Stonewall!”
On July 8, Comcast held a screening
of the NBC Nightly Films and NBC
Out four-part digital documentary series
“The Revolution,” which explores the
LGBTQ-rights movement. The company
also hosted a panel featuring PGN pub-
lisher and Stonewall participant Mark
the Segal, Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
executive director Amber Hikes and
Sekiya Dorsett, producer and editor of
“Stonewall 50: The Revolution,” to dis-
cuss the community’s current and histori-
cal challenges. ■

TRANS WELLNESS from page 1
will attend to discuss the results of its
recent survey that found 39 percent of
LGBTQ youth in the United States consid-
ered suicide in the last year.
Larry Benjamin, director of commu-
nications at Mazzoni Center, said people
attended last year’s conference from all
50 states and countries including Nigeria,
Australia and England. He described the
event as an “affirming space,” and recalled
speaking with a young transman from
Alabama who told Benjamin that until
he “walked into the convention center, he
had never been in a room full of people
who looked like him, who understood his
journey.”
“Anybody who grew up LGBTQ, you
have that sense of aloneness until you find
your community,” Benjamin said. “One of
the big pieces I’ve heard from the confer-
ence’s people is that sense of community.
It’s a safe space. Everybody gets them.
They can be themselves.”
Charlene Arcila, a transwoman of color
who was known for her activism in the
trans, faith, recovery and HIV and AIDS
communities, founded the conference in
its original form as the Philadelphia Trans
Health Conference. Arcila died in 2015.
In 2007, Arcila made history by fil-
ing a discrimination complaint with the
Philadelphia Commission on Human
Relations about the gender markers that
were issued on SEPTA transportation
passes at the time. The filing prompted a
multi-year legal battle that made its way to
the state Supreme Court before the markers
were officially removed in summer 2013.
Mazzoni Center, in tandem with State
Sen. Larry Farnese, has reached out to
SEPTA in hopes of dubbing the organi-
zation the official mode of transportation
for the conference. They are awaiting a
response on the decision, Benjamin said,
which would show “how far [the company]
has come” since its standoff with Arcila.
“With so many people coming out to the
city and not knowing their way around, we
thought that would be great for them to feel
welcomed by the biggest public transporta-
tion agency in Philadelphia,” he added.
Other sponsors include the Philadelphia
Department of Public Health, Philly AIDS
Thrift, Planned Parenthood Southeastern
PA, Comcast and Jefferson Health.
On July 26, a networking mixer will take
place for participants in the program’s pro-
fessional track, and Euphoria, the official
dance party of the event, will take over
Tabu Lounge & Sports Bar.
The conference will also offer program-
ming for kids and young adults, including
“Youth Space,” an initiative for those ages
12-18. Young people can attend these ses-
sions, facilitated by Mazzoni Center staff,
that explore topics like gender, knowing
your rights and mindfulness. ■

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person or persons.

Published by Masco Communications Inc. Copyright © 1976 - 2019 Copyright(s) in all materials in these pages are either owned or licensed by Masco Communications Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliate companies (Philadelphia Gay News,
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Invisibility in the USA:
Living LGBTQ and disabled
By Victoria A. Brownworth
PGN Contributor
Part two of a three-part series on
the challenges faced by LGBTQ
individuals with disabilities.
At age 25, Tamika Moore was diagnosed
with lupus, an autoimmune disorder that
can be severely disabling and largely affects
just women.
The diagnosis “derailed my life,” she
said. “I was exhausted all the time. I was
in pain. I was depressed. I had just finished
my master’s degree, I was looking for a
teaching job, thinking about my Ph.D., and
I could barely walk from my desk to my
bedroom.”
Four years later, Moore reports, the situa-
tion hasn’t improved.
The disability has “isolated me and put
me in a whole new kind of closet.”
“As a black femme lesbian academic, I
feel like I was already dealing with multiple
identities,” she added. “Becoming disabled
just felt like one identity too many.”
According to the Centers for Disease
Control, one in four U.S. adults — or
61-million Americans — has a disability,
making disabled people the nation’s larg-
est minority group. A National Institutes
of Health study shows even higher rates of
disability among LGBTQ people.
NIH found that 30-35 percent of lesbian
and bisexual women live with a disability,
and that lesbian, gay and bisexual adults
with disabilities are significantly younger
than their heterosexual counterparts.
The NIH study concluded that “higher
rates of disability among lesbian, gay and
bisexual adults are of major concern,”
adding: “Efforts are needed to prevent,
delay and reduce disabilities, as well as to
improve the quality of life for lesbian, gay
and bisexual adults with disabilities. Future
prevention and intervention efforts need
to address the unique concerns of these
groups.”
Elle Sloan, a queer activist who has
worked with ADAPT, a national organiza-
tion that advocates for the rights of the dis-
abled, participated in protests to protect the
Affordable Care Act in 2017. She said she
often finds more resistance to her disability
than to her queer identity.
“Navigating the pathway between com-
munities can be as difficult as finding
wheelchair access in a city of steps, stairs,
broken sidewalks and blocked curb cuts,”
said Sloan. “As inclusive as we claim to be
in our LGBTQ-plus community, there are
so many disabled and chronically ill queer
and trans people who are just invisible.
Some of us are working on creating visibil-
ity, but it has to be a lot more.”
Moore said she often has to weigh
LOCAL
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 5
whether or not to reveal her disability.
“It’s kept me from relationships. I hold
that part of myself back. You don’t know
how open to be or when and how. You have
to break dates. You can’t do certain things.
Sometimes I walk with a cane, but some-
times I don’t, and so people ask me about
that. It’s a lot — and I am still learning how
to navigate being disabled.”
A motorcycle accident left Tom Baxter a
paraplegic several years ago. Like Moore,
he said he has relationship concerns.
“I was watching ‘Special’ on Netflix
and thinking how much I related to a lot of
what Ryan was experiencing as a disabled
gay man,” said Baxter, referring to series
creator and star Ryan O’Connell, who has
cerebral palsy. “I think, most of all, you ask
yourself all the time if you really are still
attractive to nondisabled people. And when
I think that, I wonder why I only care what
nondisabled people think.”
“Special,” based on O’Connell’s memoir,
is one of few programs to highlight some-
one with disabilities — which, the writer
said, is part of the problem.
“The fact that we have so little content to
account for that population of people, just
from a business point of view, feels like
bad business,” said O’Connell. “You have
a totally untapped demo that is starving for
stories like theirs, and we’re gonna ignore
it? That doesn’t make sense.”
Baxter, 28, said he never had feelings of
shame or self-loathing about being gay —
and he doesn’t want to have them about
being disabled.
“There’s so little that’s different about
me since the accident,” he said. “But I feel
like when I meet new people, they see my
[wheel] chair first and me later, if at all.”
Lauren Alden, manager of services for
the Center for Independent Living, said
access and isolation are common issues for
those with disabilities.
Although Alden — a married lesbian and
mother — doesn’t live with a disability, she
has worked with numerous individuals who
face the same challenges as Sloan, Moore
and Baxter. This is where social services
can help, she said.
Liberty Resources, Inc., a local orga-
nization under the auspices of CIL that
advocates on behalf of the disabled for civil
rights and equal access, also offers much-
needed practical services to the commu-
nity. These include help with transitioning
from nursing homes to independent living,
financial courses, healthcare navigation,
yoga classes and a food pantry — in a
welcoming, supportive and inclusive envi-
ronment that accommodates all disabilities
and has an onsite interpreter for the hearing
impaired, said Alden.
“Sixteen percent of the population in
Philadelphia is disabled,” making the dis-
abled community the PAGE 17
6 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 LOCAL
PGN
Behavioral health org adopts
Gender Affirmative Model
By Laura Smythe
laura@epgn.com
Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, a
national healthcare nonprofit with a center
in Villanova, has adopted a new interdisci-
plinary approach to working with trans and
gender-expansive youth.
The Gender Affirmative Model, devel-
oped from a book published by the
American Psychological Association in
2018, establishes a framework for helping
children live as their authentic gender. It
emphasizes a holistic approach for children
and their families that includes resilience
and wellness and addresses the psycholog-
ical, social, cultural and community chal-
lenges gender-diverse youth face.
The framework examines topics includ-
ing addressing trauma that children have
experienced because of their gen-
der identity and the differences in
supporting youth in exploring gen-
der-expansive expressions versus
affirming a gender identity.
The model is the first to standard-
ize guidelines for the optimal ways
to serve the LGBTQ community in
the behavioral health field, said Dr.
Yolanda Graham, Devereux’s senior
vice president and chief clinical and
medical officer.
“It’s a concise compilation of best
practices starting at our understand-
ing, definitions, language and then
actual interventions,” she added.
The model utilizes the entire
spectrum of gender to inform its
techniques, Graham said.
“Even as an expert in the field, there are
new definitions that were unfamiliar to
me,“ she added. “It becomes an education
in being able to meet youth where they are
in terms of their identity, rather than trying
to define it within a box.”
“The Gender Affirmative Model: An
Interdisciplinary Approach to Supporting
Transgender and Gender Expansive
july 25-27, 2019
Children” was edited by Colt Keo-Meier,
a clinical psychologist who identifies
as a transgenderqueer man, and Diane
Ehrensaft, a developmental and clinical
psychologist who specializes in work with
gender-expansive children.
check-in at the Board St Entrance Devereaux was established in 1912 and
buckled down on developing competency
in working with the LGBTQ community
Register online today about six years ago, Graham said. The
group’s Arizona, Florida and Georgia cen-
#transphl ters have been certified by the Human
Rights Campaign for establishing policies
and practices that welcome, support and
affirm LGBTQ foster and adoptive parents.
The Pennsylvania location is pursuing cer-
tification.
But Devereaux’s leadership decided
implementing the Gender Affirmative
Model in the center’s clinical approach was
also key to better reaching the queer popu-
lation, Graham said.
According to the National Alliance on
Mental Illness, suicide is one of the leading
causes of death for LGBTQ people ages
10-24. LGBTQ youth are four times more
likely, while questioning youth are three
times more likely, to attempt suicide, expe-
rience suicidal thoughts or engage in self-
harm compared to their non-LGBTQ peers.
The Trevor Project, an organization
focused on suicide prevention for LGBTQ
youth, has found that LGB youth who feel
rejected by their families are about eight
times more likely to have attempted sui-
cide.
Devereaux officially adopted the Gender
Affirmative Model in June. Alongside it,
the organization rolled out a gender-sup-
port plan to inform clinicians on how to
Photo: Kelly Burkhardt
best assist children in different settings,
including schools, homes and the clinic,
Graham said.
Admission staff and caregivers work with
patients to fill out the document, which
details expectations around areas including
pronoun usage, gender expression, hor-
mone therapy and safety during care.
The importance of the new model comes
from the value of having a high-stan-
dard of sensitivity toward LGBTQ patients,
Graham told PGN.
“It is very easy as well-intentioned prac-
titioners to make a statement that may actu-
ally be harmful to a person and not meant in
that intent,” she said. “If someone does not
have the knowledge of the correct language
or how it’s empowered, you could actually
do more harm than good.”
Many clinics are beginning to adopt the
recently-released model, which could indi-
cate a changing narrative around mental
health in the LGBTQ community, espe-
cially regarding youth.
“My hope is that every youth that comes
through Devereaux’s doors that identifies
as LGBTQ will leave feeling empowered in
their own skin and able to voice themselves
in a way that they can serve as their own
advocates,” Graham said. ■

Upper Darby to extend LGBT
workplace protections
By Timothy Cwiek
timothy@epgn.com
Upper Darby Mayor Thomas N. Micozzie
said he will ask the township council this week
to introduce an ordinance extending LGBT
workplace protections to all 450 township
employees.
Micozzie will make the request during a
July 10 council meeting that’s open to the pub-
lic. He said about 110 “office professionals”
already have LGBT protections in their labor-
union contract. The proposed ordinance would
extend those protections to the remaining 340
township employees, including police officers,
fire fighters, highway personnel and sanitation
workers, he said.
“I’m optimistic it’s going to happen because
I’ve spoken to other council people and they’re
supportive,” Micozzie told PGN. “It’s also
the right thing to do. There should be no dis-
crimination against anyone. Everyone should
be treated equally. This process ensures that
Virtual reality enhances LGBTQ
community building, study finds
By Laura Smythe
laura@epgn.com
Researchers at England’s University of East
Anglia discovered online virtual worlds can
help the LGBTQ community and other social
movements raise awareness and create a safe
space for members, a new study shows.
The report followed an LGBTQ “guild”
playing the video game World of Warcraft, in
which users create characters to interact with
other players. The team ventured away from
the game’s intended objectives, instead using
the virtual realm to host activities including an
annual Pride parade, modeling competitions
and dance parties. Members also communi-
cated regularly with each other via online dis-
cussion forums.
As many as 7,800 people participated in the
group during the 18-month study, making it
the largest “special interest group” known to
World of Warcraft, the study found. Around
15,000 virtual characters made up the guild, as
players could have multiple avatars.
“Creating Convivial Affordances: a Study of
Virtual World Social Movements,” published
in Information Systems Journal, was led by
Brad McKenna, an information systems lec-
turer at University of East Anglia’s Norwich
Business School.
“This study provides some practical exam-
ples of how virtual worlds can act as a safe
haven for social movements or to create aware-
ness, for example for LGBT issues, within a
broader gaming community,” McKenna said.
“Many group members came from countries
that do not support LGBT rights, so this was a
safe space for them.”
To conduct the research, McKenna obtained
permission from guild leaders to join the squad
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 7
Sales Representative at PGN
becomes a reality.”
The proposed ordinance will amend the
township’s administrative code. It’s expected
to be introduced at a July 17 council meeting
during which members of the public can offer
comments. Then it’s expected to come up for a
final vote during the Aug. 21 council meeting,
said Thomas J. Judge Jr., the township’s chief
administrative officer.
“I do not envision any problems that will
surface because of this language change,”
Judge told PGN.
Judge also said there are no current plans to
enact a comprehensive LGBT antibias ordi-
nance that would cover additional categories
such as housing, education and public accom- Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) currently has immediate opening for adver-
modations.
“We’re taking one step at a time and address- tising sales position available for an energetic, self-motivated individual
ing the issues as they come forward,” he said. with outstanding communication skills.
Upper Darby has about 82,000 residents.
The township is the sixth-largest municipality
in the state. It’s located in Delaware County, Our ideal candidate must have polished sales skills with experience in lead
just west of Philadelphia. ■ generation and cold calling, combined with a track record of closing the sale.
Qualifications: * Two years minimum of successful sales experience, for-
mer print and/or advertising sales are a plus * Strong verbal and writing
skills * Excellent at relationship building * Ability to work independently
and participated in its social movement. The and part of a team * Knowledge of local media market and LGBT communi-
findings show how groups can use virtual tech-
nology to advance their unique causes, he said. ty a plus * Computer literacy a must
In an ordinary World of Warcraft game,
players use spells to battle each other. But the Salary/Benefits: Competitive Salary based on your past experience, plus
LGBTQ team used the lighting effects to cre-
ate an atmosphere during the parade and dance commission. Our benefits package includes medical and dental insurance,
party, the study states. paid holidays, vacation and a casual work environment.
McKenna also monitored how the group
reacted to changes in the game made by its Qualified individuals interested in applying are encouraged to send their
developers.
At one time, players rerouted the virtual résumé. to mark@epgn.com
Pride parade when its original path changed
after a game update. Another instance arose
when developers capped the number of players
a guild could have, forcing the team to think
of ways to keep the crew in existence without
losing members.
“Different online communities could use
these ideas, look at how the technology can be
shaped for their causes,” McKenna said. “For
organizations which operate within virtual
worlds, these findings begin to shed light on
the issues faced and suggests that they need to
be willing to evolve if they want to continue
operating in these environments, which may
constantly be changing.”
As technology evolves, social groups may
be able to use more advanced virtual or aug-
mented reality platforms to make their state-
ments, the study suggests.
Other social movements have similarly uti-
lized World of Warcraft to raise awareness for
issues including breast cancer, political rallies
and environmental protests, according to a
release.
“Insights from this study could provide the
analytical tools necessary to understand how
different technologies impact LGBT and other
movements,” McKenna said. ■ *PGN is an equal opportunity employer
8 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019
NATIONAL
PGN
Survey marks 20 years of
research on LGBT students
By Suzannah Cavanaugh
PGN Contributor
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network, more commonly
called GLSEN (pronounced “glisten”),
has launched its 11th National School
Climate Survey in its primary mission
to ensure safe schools for LGBTQ stu-
dents.
The 25-minute survey asks LGBTQ
secondary-school students, ages 13
and older, to assess their
experiences at school,
with a focus on how
often they’ve
encountered
homophobia
from peers
and staff.
One of
the ques-
tions:
“ H o w
often do
you hear
the word
‘ g a y ’
used in
a nega-
tive way
at school?”
The response
includes a scale
of “frequently” to
“never.”
Held biennially since 1999,
the GLSEN survey remains the only
significant research on LGBT school cli-
mate.
“There was almost no research on
the experiences of LGBTQ students,”
said Joseph G. Kosciw, director of the
GLSEN Research Institute. “And it was
important for GLSEN to have data that
showed the experiences that LGBTQ
youth were having in secondary school,
to better advocate for safer and affirm-
ing school environments.”
The anonymous survey functions as
a fly on the classroom wall. Questions
suss out indicators of a negative school
climate — biased speech, victimization
and discrimination — and determine
the potential effects on students’ aca-
demic performance. The questionnaire
also collects information on the avail-
ability and impact of in-school LGBT
support groups.
Now with a 20-year sample at its dis-
posal, GLSEN has the data to denote
areas of the LGBTQ student experience
that have sustained positive changes
and where progress remains to be seen.
“Since 2007, we had seen a decline in
the use of many types of anti-LGBTQ
remarks, as well as anti-LGBTQ vic-
timization,” said Kosciw. “However,
considering the data from 2001 and
2017, it is evident that school climate
remains quite hostile for many LGBTQ
students.”
The results of GLSEN’s 2015 sur-
vey made local news, as Pennsylvania
schools were deemed “not safe” for
most LGBTQ students. The survey cited
higher rates of discipline for students
dressing in clothing inconsistent with
their birth gender. It also reported
that half of transgender
students were denied
requests to be
called by their
preferred pro-
noun, while
two-thirds
were pre-
vented
f r o m
using
t h e
bath-
r o o m
corre-
spond-
ing to
their gen-
der.
Kosciw
said GLSEN’s
2017 survey
revealed even fewer
positive changes than in
2015. However, he added,
school administrators can serve as
prime players in initiating a trend of tol-
erance.
“Results from our National School
Climate Survey have consistently
demonstrated the ways in which school-
based supports — such as supportive
staff, inclusive and supportive school
policies, curricular resources inclusive
of LGBTQ people and GSAs [Gay-
Straight Alliances] — can positively
affect LGBTQ students’ school experi-
ence,” said Kosciw.
As the only ongoing research specif-
ically examining the high-school expe-
riences of LGBTQ youth, GLSEN’s
work has been instrumental in affecting
national, state and local policies involv-
ing LGBTQ students.
Data from the National Student
Climate Survey informed conversations
preceding the repeal of Arizona’s “No
Promo Homo” law, which prohibited
health and sexual-education faculty
from teaching LGB sexuality. The sur-
vey results also spurred the passage of
an antibullying law in New Mexico and
an LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum bill in
New Jersey — the only state to adopt
such legislation besides California. ■
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 9

DENIAL OF CARE from page 1

cause immediate harm for LGBT con-
sumers of healthcare.”
The rule would allow medical pro-
fessionals to deny services including
abortion, fertility treatment and access-
ing PrEP — care that members of the
LGBTQ often rely on, Shanker said.
The court intends to hear and rule
on all motions in the case by Nov. 22,
said Jamie Gliksberg, senior attorney at
Lambda Legal. The government’s motion
for summary judgment is due to the
court Aug. 21. Plaintiffs are to submit
responses and cross motions by Sept. 12.
A hearing is scheduled for Oct.30, allow-
ing time for the court to make a ruling by
the enactment deadline.
Gliksberg said in a statement it is
“impossible to exaggerate” the extent of
the harm the legal ruling would produce.
“It will cause denials of medically-nec-
essary care to transgender patients in their
most vulnerable moments of need, result-
ing in increased harms to patients’ health
and well-being as well as harms to pub-
lic health at large,” she added. “Without
even an emergency exception to protect
patients in need of life-saving health care,
the negative impacts of the Denial of Care
Rule are literally fatal. We are fighting
to stop this discriminatory and unconsti-
tutional Denial of Care Rule from ever
taking effect to protect the already mar-
ginalized communities and health care
providers that are targeted by the rule.”
In a July 2 statement, Americans
United, Lambda Legal, the Center for

“We’re here for

Reproductive Rights and the County of
Santa Clara said the rule unfairly tar-
gets LGBTQ people and women seeking
reproductive health care. They added it
is “unconstitutional and we are ready to
take on the Trump administration in this
fight.”

each other, no
“As we know from the firsthand
accounts of our plaintiffs – health care
providers who are on the front lines
every day caring for patients – discrim-
ination in health care is dangerous and
lives are truly at stake,” the statement
reads. “Confronted with these facts and

matter what.”
what.”
the flurry of lawsuits showing how the
Denial of Care Rule would irreparably
harm health care providers and patients
across the country, the Trump adminis-
tration agreed to delay implementation.”
The “conscience rule” was first pro-
posed by the Department of Health and
Human Services in January 2018. At
this time, the department also created
the Conscience and Religious Freedom
Division within its civil rights office.
HIV does not define our friendships.
Shanker said that in the meantime orga- When we support those living with Let’s stop HIV stigma together.
nizations like Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT HIV, we make it easier for them to Learn how at cdc.gov/together
Community Center will continue to pro-
vide health services to the LGBTQ com- live healthy lives.
munity and refer people to quality med-
ical care.
“The long-term goal is health equity,”
he added. “But right now we’re making
sure that the Trump administration’s pro- /ActAgainstAIDS /ActAgainstAIDS @TalkHIV
posed denial of care rule cannot cause
harm for the LGBT patient population.” ■
10 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019
Editorial
Queering the playing field
When the U.S. women won the FIFA
World Cup in France, LGBTQ folks had
something to celebrate. Widely-accepted
public displays of affection along with a
rejection of Trumpian policies made this
win feel, very simply, good.
Along with Rapinoe’s queer kiss and
the one between Kelley O’Hara and
her partner after the final, earlier in the
tournament it was announced that U.S.
teammates Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger
are engaged. They also kissed. Jill Ellis
became the first out lesbian coach to win
a World Cup Title.
Women’s sports have long been a place
where LGBTQ rights have been of focus,
from Billy Jean King, Renée Richards
and Gigi Fernández to Simone Augustus,
Diana Nyad, Brittany Griner and Nicola
Adams.
This week, perhaps overshadowed by
the World Cup queerness, a lesbian cou-
ple from Belgium, Alison van Uytvanck
and Greet Minnen, made history at
Wimbledon as the first same-sex couple to
play together in a grand slam tournament.
Even more obscure, the world’s first
gay cricket club, Graces, is back in action,
playing in its first competitive league in
more than 10 years. Though in Middlesex,
England, the team is international, made
up of players from around the globe.
With much to celebrate relating to
LGBTQ visibility, transgender and inter-
sex issues in sports are concurrently of
focus and have resulted in controversy.
Fox News reported that “two trans-
gender male athletes” kept a high school
student from advancing to New England’s
girls’ track regionals. Not only did the
EDITORIAL
PGN
EDITORIAL
conservative news network misgender the
women athletes, but also biased reporting
led to an article full of transphobic quotes.
By this point, many are aware of Caster
Semenya’s story. She has been scrutinized
since 2009 when she competed in the
women’s 800 meters at the world champi-
onships in Berlin. After calling Semenya,
who has identified as a woman her entire
life, “biologically male,” the International
Association of Athletics Federations
implemented rules requiring women ath-
letes with high testosterone to take hor-
mones to lower the levels.
The exact language:
“She must be recognized at law either
as female or as intersex (or equivalent);
she must reduce her blood testosterone
level to below five (5) nmol/L for a con-
tinuous period of at least six months (e.g.,
by use of hormonal contraceptives); and
thereafter she must maintain her blood
testosterone level below five (5) nmol/L
continuously (ie: whether she is in com-
petition or out of competition) for so long
as she wishes to remain eligible.”
This language is limiting and narrow
with virtually no understanding of the
LBGTQ-plus community. The IAAF
inevitably created a definition for a
“woman athlete,” and based it only on
hormonal levels.
Sports have been a venue for activ-
ism, from Title IX to queer visibility and
acceptance, but the debate over sports,
along with masculinity in mens’ sports,
also creates toxic and discriminatory envi-
ronments. Let’s certainly celebrate our
victories but let’s also stand beside one
another in a continued fight. ■
Creep of the Week D’Anne Witkowski
Ryan T. Anderson
The U.S. government is locking children
in cages and refusing to give them soap or
toothpaste, but for some folks, the most
pressing issue is the fact that my wife and I
are legally married.
So, let’s talk about Ryan T. Anderson,
shall we? He’s a research fellow at The
Heritage Foundation, a group that really
doesn’t like LGBTQ people or immigrants
for that matter. Funny how so much hatred
overlaps. Not “ha ha” funny, but “kids
sleeping in their own waste on cement
floors with aluminum blankets” funny —
aka not funny at all.
Anderson recently had a piece posted
on The Daily Signal titled “4 Years On,
‘Marriage Equality’ Slogan Still Doesn’t
Add Up” in order to commemorate the
Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges rul-
ing that legalized marriage between same-
sex partners.
Anderson’s argument is, essentially, any
view of marriage that includes same-sex
couples is “primarily about an intense emo-
tional union: a romantic, caregiving union
of consenting adults.”
This view, he writes, “simply fails as a
theory of marriage because it cannot explain
any of the historical marital norms” such as
“monogamy, exclusivity and permanence”
as well as “what interest the government has
in it.”
In other words, why would two people of
the same sex, who can’t even make babies
with their privates, want to commit to and
have sex with only one person forever? And
why should their commitments to each other
be legal?
As far as same-sex unions go, Anderson
doesn’t see why we should get the govern-
ment involved.
“If marriage is just about the love lives of
consenting adults, let’s get the state out of
their bedrooms,” he writes. “And yet those
who supported the redefinition of marriage
wanted to put the government into more
bedrooms.”
First of all, marriage, even a definition
that includes same-sex couples, isn’t just
about the love lives of consenting adults.
Second, assuming Anderson is heterosexual
and engages in consensual sex, he’s never
had his sex life policed by the state. He
didn’t have the Supreme Court rule in 1986
that consenting adults of the same sex had
no right to engage in sex with each other,
even in private. This was, thankfully, struck
down in 2003, but that was 17 long years
later.
So his claim that fighting for legally rec-
ognized marriage is akin to inviting the gov-
ernment into “more bedrooms” is insulting
and ignores a lot of painful history.
Also, let’s talk about “historical marital
norms,” since Anderson thinks they’re so
important. What marriage is has changed
a lot over time, so it’s not clear what “his-
torical” norms
Anderson wants to
get back to. Should
we go back to
when women were
essentially their
husband’s property?
How about when
husbands could rape
their wives with
impunity? How
about when women
needed their husband’s signature to get a
credit card or a loan?
I just watched “RBG,” a documentary
about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and it is fresh
in my mind that Ginsburg fought against
discrimination on the basis of sex and that
there were hundreds of laws on the books
that related women to second-class citizens.
And women are still, today, fighting for the
right to control their bodies and make their
own decisions about their reproductive lives.
But Anderson doesn’t see progress when
he looks at the history of marriage. He sees
only a cesspool of sin.
“Long before there was a debate about
same-sex anything, heterosexuals bought
into a liberal ideology about sexuality that
makes a mess of marriage,” he writes.
“Cohabitation, no-fault divorce, extramarital
sex, non-marital childbearing, pornography
and the hook-up culture all contributed to
the breakdown of the marriage culture.”
Sure, maybe the fact that unmarried peo-
ple have sex with each other and/or live
together is what hurt “marriage culture.” Or
maybe, just maybe, it was the way women
have been historically strangled by the patri-
archy that saw marriage as a man’s control
over a woman rather than two adults who
love each other as equals.
I am reminded of an interview I did with
my maternal grandparents when they were
around 70 years old for a history project
in college. They described the 1950s as “a
kinder, gentler time.” And maybe it was
for a white upper-middle-class man and
woman, but you have to ignore a hell of a
lot of ugly history to believe that.
So perhaps Anderson’s “historical norms”
are his “kinder, gentler time.” A time that
only exists when you discard what doesn’t
fit your definition of normal.
My marriage to my wife? Legal recogni-
tion changed our lives for the better. We’ve
been together since 1997. That’s a lot of
history, and it’s very normal.
You know what’s not normal? Putting
kids in concentration camps. Please donate
to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for
Education and Legal Services at www.
raicestexas.org. ■
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.

Organizations that didn’t pass the Stonewall 50 test
The 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots from the ashes of Stonewall, created the first
have passed, and as an integral part of the
anniversary and the 50 years leading up to it, Center and the first Gay Pride March were
I have an inside track and knowledge as to
who the players are and how they
did their jobs for our community.
Two organizations failed our
community this year.
The worst offender? GLAAD
The organization that is sup-
posed to monitor and provide
LGBTQ information to media,
that claims to be a resource to
TV networks — its main con-
tribution to Stonewall 50 was
the media guide. The history it
provided of our community was
misleading and left out import- Mark My
ant elements of the event as well
as the resources to cover them, Words
which left larger media on their
Mark Segal a mockery of the LGBT org’s
own. Of the 50 or so people who
are documented ranging from the
stonewall riots to the first gay pride, none, to picture and message from GLAAD’s presi-
my knowledge, were contacted by GLAAD
for their knowledge of history or to be uti-
lized as a resource or even as a fact checker.
Maybe it’s ageism or GLAAD’s need it
use celebrities rather then the rank and file
of our community but those of us who were
at Stonewall, created Gay Liberation Front
Op-Ed Victoria A. Brownworth
Megan Rapinoe for the win
When Megan Rapinoe kissed girlfriend
Sue Bird after winning the 2019 FIFA
Women’s World Cup in France on July 7,
it was a kiss seen — and felt — round the
world.
Then Kelley O’Hara went and kissed
her girlfriend; teammates Ali Krieger and
Ashlyn Harris, engaged, kissed each other;
coach Jill Ellis, married to wife Betsy,
hugged and kissed everyone.
As the Buzzfeed News headline read on
July 8: “Lesbians Won the Women’s World
Cup.”
In 2015 it was a much different scene.
After the USWNT won the World Cup,
Abby Wambach, then the only out member
of the team, ran to kiss her wife. Media
reported the scene as Wambach kissing “a
friend” or “a fan,” not a wife.
Now the USWNT is embracing and
even celebrating its players’ out lesbian-
ism as led by co-captain Rapinoe. During
an interview after the U.S., beat France in
the quarterfinal right before France’s Pride
Day, Rapinoe said, “Go gays! You can’t
win a championship without gays on your
team — it’s never been done before, ever.
That’s science, right there!”
Rapinoe added, “For me, to be gay and
fabulous, during Pride month at the World
Cup, is nice.”
The USWNT tweeted her quote. After
the win, USWNT linked to their original
OP-ED
PGN
gay youth organization, LGBT Community
ignored by GLAAD. Those, like myself, who
were young and among the first
to end invisibility by the media
are all still alive but ignored.
The people that made it possible
for GLAAD’s existence were
neglected — a lack of profession-
alism in the org’s area of exper-
tise.
Mainstream media wanted
to understand how coverage
had changed in 50 years. From
GLAAD, they received a false
timeline and a lack of resources.
Media sources actually did
the homework and changed
GLAAD’s timeline, making
so-called guide.
On page one of that guide is a
dent and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis that includes
only two lines regarding the history of
Stonewall and states, “This guide is intended
to help journalists cover Stonewall 50 with
fairness, depth and accuracy.”
GLAAD’s failure is obvious with the
guide’s inaccuracies, historic omissions and
tweet with a photo of Rapinoe, Krieger
and Harris and the caption “Told ya!”
It’s heady stuff for those of us in the
bleachers. Rapinoe is the most famous les-
bian in the world right now and the World
Cup wasn’t just a victory for women’s
soccer or the U.S. team — it was a victory
for lesbians everywhere. Rapinoe isn’t
shirking the lesbian label; she owns it —
lavender hair and all.
Earlier in the year Rapinoe had been
asked whether she would go to the White
House if her team won the World Cup.
She said, “I’m not going to the fucking
White House.”
She later apologized to her teammates
for the obscenity, but not for the comment,
urging them to “think hard” about what
associating themselves with President
Trump would mean. Trump took to Twitter
to accuse Rapinoe of attacking the country
and the flag and said, “I am a big fan of
the American Team, and Women’s Soccer,
but Megan should win first before she
talks! Finish the job!”
Rapinoe finished the job, scoring the
first goal in the World Cup.
Rapinoe calls herself a “walking pro-
test” against Trump, calling him “sexist,
misogynistic, small-minded, racist” and
“not a good person.”
In a statement after Trump attacked her,
she said she was “an American patriot.”
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 11
lack of resources. GLAAD gets an F.
Street Talk
Next on the list is an organization I didn’t What impact has
expect: SAGE.
SAGE, which was created to work with technology had on the
LGBT seniors, held a number of events cen-
tered on Stonewall’s 50th anniversary. The LGBTQ-plus community?
events were great with one exception: basic
research was not done. This resulted in “I think that
embarrassment as people who claimed they social media
were at Stonewall weren’t nor had even the has really
slightest connection. Anyone who was old allowed a lot of
enough to have been alive during the riots it LGBTQ people
seems was served up on a panel. Now that’s to connect with
ageism. Historic details that were inaccurate each other a
were put on the record. lot more easily
The best example: A woman who previ- than they
might have
ously stated she was at Stonewall changed
her statement while on a panel and said in the past. I Sophia Holmquist
know I person- she/her
she was there the second night with Sylvia
Rivera. She said they were being chased and ally, have made Oreland, PA
some LGBTQ
were trapped in a cul-de-sac while police
friends that don’t live close to me,
attacked them, and she explained their dra-
matic escape. A great story, but the cul-de- but I still have that connection with
sac was Gay Street, and Gay Street is not a them, and I found a lot of self-dis-
cul-de-sac, a detail that anyone who is famil- covery through the internet which
iar with the area knows. Sylvia never men- really helped me come to terms with
tioned that event any time in her life and the who I am when I might not have
story trivializes Sylvia. It also allows seniors been able to in the past.”
they serve to be set up for ridicule.
To SAGE and GLAAD: Our community “I think it’s
and pioneers deserve better. ■ good because
more people
can see the
positivity of
families coming
together when
people come
out with their
She also said in part, “I think that this family, and
country was founded on a lot of great I also think Stephanie Connor
ideas, but it was also founded on slavery.... it’s bad when Port Richmond
We just need to be really honest about that something she/her
and be really open in talking about that happens and
so we can reconcile that...and make this all people see
country better for everyone.” is that someone’s gay. Social media
“It’s almost like it just feeds her,” coach twists things, but I think it’s pretty
Jill Ellis said of the controversies over good. People can come together and
Rapinoe’s outspokenness. “This stuff meet up and plan things. Just like
doesn’t bounce off her, it pushes her for- everything else, it can be a good and
ward.” bad thing.”
“She stands up for what she believes in,”
goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said. “I have a “I feel that
lot of respect for her.” technology has
Speaking up and out for LGBTQ equal- impacted the
ity and having the weight of the team, LGBTQI com-
the coach and the franchise behind her, munity to be
Rapinoe has focused attention on LGBTQ able to have a
civil rights just as she has on the unequal further reach
pay scale for women players compared across the
to men. At the World Cup, fans chanted country and
“gay rights” as well as “equal pay.” On the world to
Twitter the hashtags #PayThem and be able to give
#PayTheWomen trended. Amanda Farese
each other she/her
Hillary Clinton weighed in. So did pres- more of a safe South Philadelphia
idential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand space to be
(D-NY). She put up a video of Rapinoe able to see that
with a link to her Equal Pay Act legisla- we’re all going
tion. through the same thing. I feel it’s
Numerous celebrities spoke up, includ- important for community to connect
ing Snoop Dogg. Writer Clint Smith III, to each other on relatable topics.”
whose month-long, PAGE 17
12 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 PGN
COLUMN
Positive Thoughts Theo Smart
Changing how we age with HIV
When the dashing and magnificently
bearded Dr. Giovanni Guaraldi took to
the stage at last fall’s HIV and Aging con-
ference in New York City and described
a nearly 100-year-old person living with
HIV, I was more than a bit skeptical. Not
of the researcher — he’s done some of the
most brilliant research on aging with HIV.
Guaraldi also advocates a “rethink” of care
services provided for people living with
HIV as we age, particularly now that about
half of us are over 50 and by 2030, as many
as 40 percent of us will have reached the
age of 65.
Rather than our routine HIV care, we
increasingly need comprehensive multidis-
ciplinary services to match our more com-
plex needs. Even in middle age, we need
a more aggressive approach to screening,
diagnosis and management of many condi-
tions associated with aging.
The firebrand activist Jules Levin of the
National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project
(NATAP) has been broadcasting this mes-
sage for years now — sounding the alarm
that we, the aging HIV community, are
headed for a services gap. Based on study
after study documenting rates of frailty,
aging-related complications and disabil-
ity among people living with HIV that are
much higher than what is seen in people of
the same chronological age in the general
population, he believes that HIV care sys-
tems are totally unprepared to provide the
services many of us will need.
His warnings seem to be falling on deaf
ears, due at least partly to ageism and
denial. People don’t like to think about all
the ailments associated with “growing old.”
Quite possibly, there is some measure of
survivor’s guilt as well. After all, when we
received our diagnoses, many of us never
expected to even make it to 50 (with the
exception of a growing number of us who
weren’t diagnosed until later in life). We’re
still kicking — why should we be com-
plaining about the natural aging process?
But it does not seem to be entirely nat-
ural. First, there’s all the damage that HIV
does to the body: our brain, our gut, our
other organs such as the heart and the
immune system — both before we can get
onto treatment, and then due to chronic
inflammation caused by low levels of ongo-
ing replication, co-infections (such as CMV
and hepatitis) and other factors. In addition,
long-term survivors among us are often
dealing with legacy effects of the older,
more toxic antiretrovirals. Even the new
ones have side effects, some of them insid-
ious, subtly altering our metabolism and
even damaging our mitochondria — the
energy generators of our cells. On top of
that, many of us have had rough lives emo-
tionally, punctuated by loss, dealing with
structural inequalities and bias, internalized
stigma and depression. Consequently, we
haven’t always taken the best care of our-
selves and some of our lifestyle habits are
self-destructive.
It’s no wonder that many of us are show-
ing more wear and tear than is usual for
our age. In fact, several years back, Dr.
Guaraldi published a study showing many
of the complications of aging seemed to be
happening 10–15 years earlier in people
living with HIV.
That said, other studies have shown that
many going to the larger HIV clinics and
on the current antiretrovirals do pretty well
compared to other middle-aged people,
at least over the short term. And there’s a
good explanation for this — simply being
in routine care may allow well-trained cli-
nicians to detect problems early and nip
them in the bud.
Which brings me back to this 99-year-old
gentleman from Lisbon, Portugal. My ini-
tial instinct was to dismiss him as an anom-
aly — a case of one. But the more I thought
about it, it was not so simple. He was very
ill when he was diagnosed at the age of 84,
very late, with a nadir CD4 count below
100 but recovered and seems to have flour-
ished with good attentive care. There’s a
good report on him online (bit.ly/99-year-
old), with a cute video clip of Dr. Guaraldi
at bit.ly/Guaraldi-clip.
At the HIV and aging conference, Dr.
Guaraldi identified factors that could help
explain why this man has done so well.
First, he lives in a healthy environment.
He’s never had financial difficulties (or the
related stress), and he has assistance from a
loving 70-year-old daughter who lives next
door. Then there’s that Mediterranean life-
style and diet, with cardio every day walk-
ing up and down the hills of Lisbon, and, I
would imagine, plenty of olives and fish.
Dr. Guaraldi referred to these factors
collectively as “social protection,” which
based upon his research in a larger HIV-
positive cohort, might be used to help
predict which people might be at greater
risk of frailty and age-related illness. But
lest one think that such outcomes might
be limited to those lucky enough to live in
Portugal, another study presented by Dr.
Nancy Mayo of McGill University at the
HIV and Aging conference found similar
factors associated with “aging well” in a
cohort of over 800 Canadians living with
HIV. Looking specifically at frailty, the
study found that some health conditions
greatly increased the risk, such as having
lung disease, arthritis or cognitive prob-
lems.
But about 14 percent of the cohort
seemed to be aging particularly well.
Among modifiable factors associated with
greater resilience were being physically
active, not smoking, not suffering from
stigma, having friends and family (not
being lonely) and keeping mentally fit.
“You have a big role in how you are
going to age,” Dr. Todd PAGE 16
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 13

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Four health providers leave
Mazzoni Center
By Laura Smythe
laura@epgn.com
Mazzoni Center is in the midst of los-
ing four healthcare providers.
Since January, two have departed from
the LGBTQ health center on Locust
Street near 12th, said Mazzoni’s Director
of Communications Larry Benjamin. One
left for a career opportunity, while the
other moved home to Pittsburgh.
Two additional physicians are expected
to move on from the center before the end
of the year. One will step down in August
to move to New York with his partner,
who accepted a job there. The second will
leave in September to join their partner,
who lives abroad.
The departures pose some challenges
for the organization, which currently has
10 providers.
“With a staff as small as ours, multiple
providers leaving in a single year presents a
challenge,” Benjamin told PGN in an email.
“We are working on continued access and
meeting patient needs every day.”
The center is recruiting new staff and
has hired one new provider, who will
start in September. The organization is
OP-ED from page 11
all-caps tweets about the USWNT had
drawn thousands to the black academ-
ic’s normally sedate and serious feed,
shouted: “PAY THESE WOMEN WHAT
THEY DESERVE YOU COWARDS.”
In a follow-up tweet, he wrote: “YALL I
AM SO PROUD OF THIS TEAM I AM
SO INSPIRED BY THEM THEY ARE
LEGITIMATELY ONE OF THE BEST
SPORTS TEAMS EVER WE ARE SO
LUCKY WE GOT TO WATCH THIS.”
The whole world — and FIFA —
heard it.
Rapinoe led the fight for equal pay,
filing suit against the U.S. Soccer
Federation. She also led a different fight
in 2016 when she became the first profes-
sional athlete to stand — or rather, kneel
— with Colin Kaepernick in his quest to
draw attention to extrajudicial violence
against black Americans. She made head-
lines for asserting her refusal to visit the
White House upon winning the title and
her vocal disapproval of the Trump admin-
istration. She’s been invited to the Capitol
by Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader
Schumer. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
also invited her to Washington.
In an essay about Trump attacking
Rapinoe, girlfriend Bird, herself a WNBA
star, wrote, “Megan, man…. She’s going
to do her thing, and she’s going to apolo-
gize to exactly NO ONE for it.”
Rapinoe is not apologizing for her gay-
dedicated to finding new team members
who mesh well with patients, Benjamin
said: “We hire with care so that new clini-
cians are LGBTQ competent and a good
fit with our patients and the community
we serve.”
Even with the loss of several staff mem-
bers, Mazzoni is dedicated to maintaining
the services it offers, especially HIV care
and prevention, Benjamin added.
As of March, Mazzoni’s overall HIV
viral suppression rate for patients clocked
in at 90 percent. For trans patients, the
rate was at 85 percent. Both outweigh
the city-wide 2017 suppression rate of
51 percent.
To date this fiscal year, Mazzoni phy-
sicians have performed 7,330 HIV tests,
2,962 syphilis screenings and 6,184
gonorrhea and chlamydia screenings.
This makes the organization the sec-
ond largest provider of these tests in
Philadelphia, Benjamin said, trailing only
the Department of Health.
Mazzoni provides care for 1,253
patients living with HIV. About 1,700
health center clients take PrEP. The cen-
ter will continue actively hiring new phy-
sicians to join its team. ■
ness or her fight to get women paid fairly.
The USWNT is the most successful wom-
en’s soccer team in the world, with four
World Cups, four Olympic Gold Medals
and eight CONCACAF Gold Cups.
Yet the USWNT will only receive
$250,000 each for their World Cup victory.
If the men’s team won a World Cup (they
haven’t), they’d earn $1 million each for
their victory. But even as losers who hav-
en’t won the World Cup, the USMNT get
paid nearly $500,000 each.
Her quest for LGBTQ awareness is also
critical to Rapinoe’s message. In a May
interview with Yahoo Sports, Rapinoe
talked about why she came out publicly
nearly a decade ago. She’d been out to
friends and family since college.
“When you’re out, it’s only one part of
who you are,” Rapinoe explained. “But
when you’re not out, it’s just this all-con-
suming thing. The deeper in the closet you
are, the more you lie, the more it becomes
this all-consuming thing that it really
doesn’t have to be, and it takes over your
life. So people getting to a point where
they can just live their lives and be happy,
if I can have any part in that, that’s pretty
special.”
Teammate Rose Lavelle, rising star and
the other goal-scorer in the game, said of
Rapinoe, “She’s such a special person.
People just gravitate to her. She is just a
person that people want to listen to and
learn from.” ■

Truths behind divorce
Two people marry for a variety of reasons,
many noble and some otherwise, probably
with a long-range view of togetherness —
maybe that even includes children. However,
a significant number of marriages will sadly
not endure and end in divorce. As I always
tell people, “No one knows what goes on
between two people.” For some, divorce is a
tragic reminder of a perceived failure and for
others, it is a relief and opportunity to start
over — a fresh start. We live in a world that
prioritizes married couples, that is
opposite-sex married couples, but
the cultural and legal landscape
has changed and members of the
LGBTQ-plus community are now
free to marry and, therefore, free
to divorce.
It is relatively easy to get mar-
ried, but divorce takes time and
strategizing. If the other spouse
does not agree to the divorce,
there is a waiting period of one
or two years, depending on when
the parties separated. The date Family Law
of separation (DOS) is important Mark-Allen (DOM) and the date of separation
in Pennsylvania as it affects the
divorce process when disagree- Taylor, Esq. (DOS)
ment exists and how marital and
non-marital property are characterized and
equitably distributed between the two parties.
Sometimes a prenuptial agreement is very
helpful during the divorce, but keep in mind
that it needs to be reevaluated by an attorney to
ensure its validity.
Entering the divorce phase of a marriage
often means significant emotional and finan-
cial stress. The following are some of the
issues that need to be addressed: (1) Housing
– where the spouses are going to live, i.e., in
the same residence or will one move out; (2)
Children – if there are children, their care and
support is a priority; (3) Money – how much
money does the couple have and how are the
bills going to be paid; (4) Property – what
property does the couple have, separately or
together, and how is marital property going
to be apportioned. Property includes a marital
residence, pensions and investments, antiques
and art, vehicles, pets and much else. One
couple might live in a rental apartment with no
children, one cat and own very little in terms
of assets. Another couple might have big pen-
sions, live in an expensive mortgaged home
and have children who are in private school. In
other words, no marriage is alike; therefore, no
divorce is alike.
The only thing shared by all is that divorce
is a legal mechanism in a court of law that
releases two people from the bonds of mat-
rimony. It is possible to obtain a simple,
no-fault divorce, but more often a divorce mat-
ter is rarely simple and can be a very expen-
sive. If you cannot afford an attorney, legal aid
is available if you qualify or perhaps a relative
or friend can loan you the money or pay the
attorney for you. Each marriage is unique and
no one can predict on the wedding day how a
couple will navigate the world. Divorce statis-
tics are often the topic of barbeque get-togeth-
ers or private conversations because there are
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 15
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3. If you cannot afford an attorney, contact
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ation lawyer referral and information
service. They might connect you to a for over 30 years
participating lawyer at a reduced rate
and/or local legal aid organizations. Be
very wary of advertisements in local
papers for divorce document preparation
by non-lawyers. Again, it is strongly
recommended that you consult with a
licensed attorney. And do not use the
same lawyer as your spouse, no matter
how tempting the offer might seem. Get
your own independent lawyer!
4. If domestic violence happens to you
or your children, call 9-1-1 and be
sure to get a police report and call
your attorney. If you do not have an
attorney or the attorney is not avail-
able and it is an emergency, go to your
local family court or criminal justice
center. In Philadelphia for example,
go to the Domestic Violence Unit at
Family Court, 1501 Arch Street, 8th
Floor, Monday to Friday (opens at 8:00
AM) or to the Criminal Justice Center
Emergency Protection from Abuse, 1301
Filbert Street, Room B-03, which is
open Monday – Friday overnight from
5 p.m. to 8 a.m. and 24 hours on week-
ends and holidays. Also, there are safe
houses/shelters available for you and
your children and some might accept
Eating Out Should Be Fun!
pets too.
5. Consult with an experienced family
attorney. Do not hesitate to seek men-
tal health services if you are not able
to function and feel helpless or over- - and check out our
whelmed, and if you have religious Read PGN’s food reviews
concerns, consult with your spiritual every second and fourth week archive of past reviews on
advisor. epgn.com.
Good luck. ■
of the month
16 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 PGN

POSITIVE THOUGHTS from page 12
Brown of Johns Hopkins University said
at another meeting organized by NATAP’s
Jules Levin last fall in New York, in a talk
emphasizing what people could do for
themselves to build resilience and to main-
tain a good quality of life as they age. I, for
one, would be happy to live in good health
well into my 70s and later, as my older sib-
lings are doing. In my own life, I’ve seen
how changing my diet and losing a sig-
nificant amount of weight has profoundly
improved my quality of health — and even
my concentration.
Building resilience is something we have
to do both on a personal level but also in
our communities and in our health systems.
At the personal level, now is not the
time to be burying our heads in the sand.
Knowledge is power. Many of us will recall
how, back before antiretrovirals made HIV
into a chronic manageable condition, we
had to learn all about the various oppor-
tunistic infections and drug development
— often becoming more aware of the
scientific research than our own doctors.
This issue takes that approach, reviewing
what is currently known about the health
risks we face — we need to know what our
health care providers should be watching
for and what steps we can take to improve
the way we age.
One of the challenges is that access to
quality care for aging people with HIV is
uneven in this country. There is a lack of
trained skilled providers and services pre-
pared to deal with consequences of these
complications and health emergencies in
this population. Many of our HIV clini-
cians simply aren’t trained in the nuances
of providing care for people who are
aging, and it can be extremely difficult to
get timely referrals to a specialist when we
need one. Efforts are underway to address
the services gap that requires our commu-
nities’ full support (see “Addressing the
Needs of Older Adults Living with HIV”
in the Spring 2019 issue of Positively
Aware).
For many of us, the care we receive is
limited by what Medicaid or our insurance
plans will cover — and this needs to be as
much a part of our national activist agenda
as the current efforts around prevention.
We can also build resilience for aging well
into the health system and communities
through our activism. We also focus on a
few of the activists who are each respond-
ing in their own way to scale up research
and improve the service package and psy-
chosocial support for our communities —
and to improve elder care in general.
“It’s not just HIV. We don’t take care of
our older people and that is a problem across
the country and many parts of the world,”
said Dr. David Wohl of the University of
North Carolina at NATAP’s forum. “The
problems with age transcend any one disease.
But HIV is really unique in many ways. HIV
and the epidemic forced the FDA to think
harder and differently about how to approve
drugs. The epidemic helped us think about
how, as communities, to organize to push
politicians and policy makers to push drug
companies to do the things they ought to do.
There are many examples in medicine where
HIV has leapfrogged us and helped other
disease states. And maybe it is HIV that can
help us revolutionize geriatrics because we
need a different model for how we take care
of, and how we consider, older people. We
can do that. We are the tip of the spear.” ■
Theo Smart is a contributing writer for Positively
Aware; this article first appeared in the Spring 2019
issue of the magazine. This column is a project of Plus,
Positively Aware, POZ, TheBody and Q Syndicate, the
LGBT wire service.

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AMBER HIKES from page 1
Department to develop a trans-inclusive
policy — heralded as one of the most pro-
gressive in the United States — that was
announced last month.
Shortly after taking office in 2017, Hikes
introduced Philadelphia’s “More Color,
More Pride” flag, which added black and
brown stripes to the design to represent
the LGBTQ people of color who have
experienced marginalization in the com-
munity. She also launched Philadelphia’s
annual LGBTQ State of the Union, pushed
for gender-neutral language updates in
the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter and
started the LGBTQ Community Leadership
Pipeline, which diversifies the leadership
of the city’s LGBTQ nonprofits.
Kenney said in a statement that he
accepted Hikes’ resignation with mixed
emotions.
“Amber has been a fearless advocate
and public servant, working tirelessly to
support Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community
from within city government for the past
two years,” he added. “She has also been a
critical sounding board on issues of diver-
DISABILITY from page 5
city’s second-largest minority, after African
Americans, she cited, adding Liberty
Resources is one of the few entities advo-
cating for needed changes here.
Alden noted that disabled people are
often made to feel they’re the problem
when they request equal access, but that
Visit www.squirt.org to hook up today
PGN
sity and inclusion spanning across numer-
ous marginalized communities. We will
miss having Amber’s voice, perspective
and passion inside City Hall, but her impact
on the city will be felt for years to come.”
On Facebook, Hikes said her resignation
stems from a mixture of “personal sur-
vival” and “sustaining and building” the
LGBTQ movement.
“I did this job with every ounce of
myself and those close to me know the toll
this work has taken – mentally, emotionally
and physically,” Hikes wrote. “While that
was my conscious sacrifice, this kind of
endless dedication to our work is neither
healthy nor sustainable. I believe deeply
that strong leadership looks like answering
the call when it’s necessary and knowing
when to step aside when the time has come
to pass the torch. That time is now. I leave
to care for my own mind, body and heart
and I do so with great pride, gratitude and
peace.”
In an interview with PGN, Hikes reiter-
ated the role self-care played in her deci-
sion.
“It’s not necessarily a cautionary tale but
“it’s the system’s problem, not the person
with the disability.”
“We had to fight to have interpreters at
City Hall,” she said.
In addition, Liberty Resources had to
argue for the ramp at the front entrance of
City Hall, said Alden. Previously, it was
located at the expansive building’s back
Hookups =
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019
… we have to do a better job of taking care
of ourselves in movement work so that we
can show up in the most effective way in
the work that we’re doing,” she said.
As the Office of LGBT Affairs goes on
in Hikes’ absence, she said she hopes it
continues to focus on coalition building
and representing members of marginalized
communities within the city’s LGBTQ
population, including immigrants, people
with disabilities, people living in poverty,
those living with HIV, people of color and
trans people.
A graduate of the University of Delaware
and University of Pennsylvania, Hikes was
hired to the Office of LGBT Affairs after
dedicating eight years to college access
work for low-income students of color.
One of the greatest challenges of the exec-
utive director role was seeing how many
challenges still existed after entering the
realm of City Hall, like finding resources
or support and navigating bureaucracy,
Hikes said.
“The biggest challenge was being able to
navigate with those very limited resources
and navigate with a community that was
entrance — which was the epitome of
inequality, she said.
Meanwhile, activists like Sloan aren’t
letting their own disabilities stop them from
making meaningful change for their peers.
“I have spent half my adult life focused
solely on making sure that I and other dis-
abled people — queer and non-queer, cis
17
frankly kind of actively in crisis and really
struggling with some serious historical
trauma,” she added, noting she felt her
team navigated the hardships as best as
possible.
Reflecting on her time in the office, Hikes
said she’s most proud of the international
visibility stemming from Philadelphia’s
inclusive Pride flag, the leadership pipe-
line initiative and the LGBTQ State of
the Union — projects she feels are “really
going to resonate with folks for years to
come.”
But, Hikes said, as gratified as she is with
what the office accomplished under her
leadership, her dream is for all City agen-
cies and departments to have an LGBTQ
liaison to offer support to LGBTQ employ-
ees, and to train every City employee on
working with the community — ventures
she hopes her successor will execute.
“It was truly the greatest honor to be able
to serve this community in this capacity
during this incredibly challenging time for
our community’s history, our city’s his-
tory and our country’s history,” Hikes told
PGN. ■
and trans — can have access to the same
things,” she said. “Sometimes I wonder
what else I might have accomplished with
that time and energy if we lived in a soci-
ety that valued disabled people as much as
nondisabled people.” ■
Some names have been changed to protect privacy.
18 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019
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Media Trail
Maryland voter forms to
provide third gender option
The Baltimore Sun reports voters in Maryland
will no longer be required to identify themselves
as male or female when they register to vote.
The Maryland State Board of Elections will
soon allow voters to choose “X” or “unspecified”
as a gender when they fill out voter registration
forms.
The new option comes after the state moved
recently to give Marylanders a third option for
gender on their driver’s licenses.
Elections officials said the change can be made
without any costs incurred. Existing paper forms
that only offer the option of “male” and “female”
will be used until they run out, and new forms
will contain the third option.
The state elections board voted unanimously in
favor of the change last week.
Festival in Utah again allows
once-barred LGBTQ groups
The Salt Lake Tribune reported Utah LGBTQ
groups were quietly accepted into a prominent
July 4th festival in conservative Provo after being
denied for years.
Five groups marched in the America’s Freedom
Festival parade last year, but only after an initial
refusal and high-profile dispute.
County officials threatened to pull $100,000
in taxpayer money from the privately-organized
event until the groups were allowed to partici-
pate.
One was Utah County Commissioner Nathan
Ivie, who recently came out as gay.
This year, all four groups that applied were
accepted to march in parade festivities. Freedom
Festival Executive Director Paul Warner says the
process was smooth.
Big business to Supreme Court:
Defend LGBTQ people from bias
ABC News reported more than 200 corpora-
tions have signed a friend-of-the-court brief urg-
ing the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that federal
civil rights law bans job discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The brief was announced July 2 by a coalition
of five LGBTQ rights groups.
It is being submitted to the Supreme Court this
Philadelphia Gay News
LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
week ahead of oral arguments before the justices
happen this fall on three cases that may deter-
mine whether LGBTQ folks are protected from
discrimination by existing federal civil rights
laws.
The cases are from New York, Michigan and
Georgia.
Among the 206 corporations endorsing the
brief are Amazon, American Airlines, Bank of
America, Coca-Cola, Domino’s Pizza, Goldman
Sachs, IBM, Microsoft, Nike, Starbucks, Viacom,
the Walt Disney Co. and Xerox.
Two Major League Baseball teams, the San
Francisco Giants and the Tampa Bay Rays, are
among the group.
Florida group probes why
LGBTQ gala had hate crime
suspects
The Miami Herald reported an LGBTQ orga-
nization has suspended its director while it inves-
tigates why four men charged with hate crimes in
an anti-gay attack attended the Florida group’s
gay pride gala.
In a June 30 statement, the Miami-based non-
profit SAVE said it has placed director Tony
Lima on administrative leave.
Lima said in a Facebook video the men bought
their own tickets after volunteering with the
group, but he didn’t consult with board mem-
bers before welcoming them in his remarks. The
South Florida Gay News said Lima announced
on stage the men had been “wrongly accused.”
Lima said he doesn’t remember saying that, add-
ing, “if that’s what I said in haste, I apologize.”
The four men are accused of attacking two
men and shouting anti-gay slurs following last
year’s Miami Beach gay pride parade.
Transgender woman arrested
after bathroom dispute esca-
lates
The Washington Post reported Denny’s restau-
rant chain wants its customers to know that they
can use the bathroom of their gender identity,
nationwide, after a transgender woman was
arrested this weekend in North Carolina.
A man called police when the transgender
woman used the same bathroom as his wife at a
Denny’s in Shelby, North Carolina.
Responding officers informed the man that the
22-year-old transgender woman broke no law.
But their dispute escalated, and the transgender
woman was charged with disorderly conduct for
allegedly spitting toward the man and his family.
A Denny’s statement says the company “does
not tolerate discrimination of any kind” and
expects customers to treat people equally. ■
Reporting via Associated Press
| HONESTY | INTEGRITY | PROFESSIONALISM |

International
Boisterous London Pride
marks 50 years since
Japan grants refugee status due Stonewall
to homophobia for first time Hundreds of thousands of people took to
The Japanese government granted refu-
gee status to a foreigner in 2018 over fears
of persecution owing to the person’s homo-
sexuality.
This is the first time for Japan to have
recognized a foreigner as a refugee for
such a reason, according to the Immigration
Services Agency.
The agency did not disclose the national-
ity, gender or other personal details of the
foreigner in question.
Same-sex sexual behaviors are subject to
imprisonment in the home country of the
foreigner. The person was arrested and held
in prison for two years in the country.
The person applied for refugee status
after being freed on bail and arriving in
Japan.
Botswana to appeal ruling
decriminalizing homosexuality
Indian high court dismisses
plea for gay marriage
Botswana’s government will appeal
against a landmark High Court ruling that
decriminalized homosexuality, the attorney
general said.
Last month the court rejected colonial-era
laws that imposed up to seven-year jail
terms for same-sex relationships, saying
they were unconstitutional.
The ruling was viewed by many as a step
toward improving LGBT rights in Africa.
But Attorney General Abraham Keetshabe
said the judges had made a mistake.
“I have thoroughly read the 132-page-
long judgment and I am of the view that the
High Court erred in arriving at this conclu-
sion,” Keetshabe said in a statement on July
5.
He added that he would take the case to
the Court of Appeal, but did not give further
details on the basis for the appeal.
The High Court ruling last month was
reached unanimously by three judges.
“Human dignity is harmed when minority
groups are marginalized,” Judge Michael
Elburu said at the time. “Sexual orientation
is not a fashion statement. It is an important
attribute of one’s personality.”
The case had been brought to court by
a student who argued that society had
changed and homosexuality was more
widely accepted, and the ruling was cele-
brated by human rights groups and activists
around the world.
Angola, Mozambique and the Seychelles
have all scrapped anti-homosexuality laws
in recent years.
But laws outlawing same-sex relations
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 19
still exist in many African countries, and it
is punishable by death in northern Nigeria,
AN EVENING WITH
LESLIE JONES
Sudan, Somalia and Mauritania.
In May, Kenya’s High Court ruled against
overturning a law banning gay sex.
the streets of London for Britain’s biggest
LGBTQ pride parade.
This year’s event marked the 50th anni-
versary of the Stonewall uprising in New
York, a turning point in the modern gay
rights movement.
The July 6 celebration included a parade
with 30,000 participants from 600 groups, AS SEEN
including uniformed police and firefighters. ON
Many more are lining the streets, cheering
and waving rainbow flags.
Organizers said they’ve aimed to increase
the event’s diversity, and London Mayor
Sadiq Khan said he hoped it would be the
biggest-ever Pride parade.
Alison Camps, cochair of Pride in
London, said, “It’s vital that we remember
that Pride is not just one day a year, we
must fight for the rights of all members of
SATURDAY, JULY 13 ––7PM
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The Delhi High Court has turned down
a plea urging it recognize equal marriage
and other LGBT-plus rights in India.
The court had been asked to amend the
Hindu Marriage Act and other family laws
in order to usher in equal marriage and
adoption rights.
Tajinder Singh, the petitioner, argued
“the constitution treats everyone equally
without any discrimination. It is the duty
of the state to ensure that no one should be
discriminated.”
Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice
C. Harishankar turned down the request,
arguing that the court was not in the busi-
ness of drafting laws.
Singh had also asked that the court
form a committee to look into LGBT-plus
rights.
In its ruling, the court said that while it
would not do this, the government is free
to form such a body.
“It is incumbent upon the legislature and
not the court to recognize the familial rela-
tions of LGBTQ community,” the court
said.
Gay sex was decriminalized by India’s
Supreme Court in September 2018.
Under a colonial-era law, men, women
and nonbinary people who had same-sex
relations faced up to life in prison.
The law was briefly repealed in 2009
after the Delhi High Court ruled that it
violated citizens’ human rights. ■
Reporting via Associated Press
20 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 PGN

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ARTS & CULTURE
Q PUZZLE: PAGE 26 FAMILY PORTRAIT: PAGE 27
A new venue for once-covert cinema and indie artists
By A.D. Amorosi
PGN Contributor
Night letters are secretive missives
employed by those who need to com-
municate an urgent message — usu-
ally a political one; often a lifesaving
one.
While they commonly have been
used to combat oppressive forces,
the history of these underground cor-
respondences — typically hand-de-
livered under cover of night — also
includes more nefarious aims, like
insurgents threatening communities.
But the goal of Philly’s newest
indie-film series — aptly named
Nightletter — is to deliver art in all
its uninhibited forms, along with a
space to create.
The venue, Window Room, a new-
ish second-floor space in West Philly,
hosts the screenings not found in most
movie theaters.
“For many years, queer cinema was
banned from mainstream exhibition,
so the only place you could see its
images was in alternative, experi-
mental venues,” said Max Bienstock,
one of the organizers of Nightletter
and Window Room. “We think that
movies, and thinking deeply about
them, can help us to see the world in
a different and challenging way, to
form a community to make change in
solidarity.”
Bienstock, formerly of Metrograph
in New York City and Lightbox
Film Center at International House
Philadelphia, expressed concern that
the impending sale of I-House could
mean curtains for many local queer
screenings.
In addition to University City’s
I-House, Philly’s queer films histor-
ically have been screened at South
Street’s Theater of Living Arts. And
while the city has a rich film history,
the venues for indie work seem to be
diminishing.
“Lately, there hasn’t been as
many small, independent screen-
ings of experimental and new work,”
Bienstock said. “So I felt the need to
open up a space to present that kind of
work, which I have felt there is a big
desire for, but that very few people are
screening.”
PGN
FEATURE
FILM: PAGE 24
FROM YVONNE RAINER’S “LIVES OF PERFORMERS”
Certain cinematic work falls
through the cracks because the film-
makers and independent distributors
don’t have the money and the mar-
keting muscle to break into a city like
Philadelphia, he said.
“Philly deserves to see these types
of films too.”
Thus, Nightletter is screening new
domestic and international films that
wouldn’t otherwise be distributed
here because of profit motives.
The series also includes experimen-
tal films from artists who, according
to Bienstock, “have even less of a
chance to screen in a for-profit set-
ting. And in keeping with our political
aims, we will screen political films in
coordination with local organizations
to connect film art to the concerns of
the local community.”
Showing the queer experience in
cinema was itself a radical experiment
when the likes of Kenneth Anger,
Gregory Markopolous, Andy Warhol
and Jack Smith debuted their works.
“Alternative exhibitions have been
inseparable from experimental film
since the beginning of the art form,”
said Bienstock. “These are all films
that see the world differently and
challenge the traditional, all-straight
world of mainstream film.”
Open since March, Window Room is
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 21
‘QUEER EYE’
PUBLIC ART
PAGE 22
COMICS: PAGE 22 ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS: PAGE 24
Nightletter presents …
The Nightletter film series debuted
July 10 at Window Room with four
films: Leslie Thornton’s “Adynata,”
Tsai Ming-liang’s “Walker,” Cheryl
Dunye’s “Vanilla Sex” and Ken
Jacobs’ “Capitalism: Child Labor.”
On July 24, Nightletter will screen
Yvonne Rainer’s “Trio A” and “Lives
of Performers.”
The first film is a rebellion against
dance, using everyday movements like
walking and kneeling with no music.
“Lives of Performers,” Rainer’s
transition into filmmaking, is a nar-
rative on a relationship among two
women and one man, all dancers. This
critical look at gender roles and role-
play employs the silent-film device
of intertitles, with one that reads, “I
remember that movie — it’s all about
all these small betrayals, isn’t it?”
Rainer identified vocally as a lesbian
at age 56. Her 1996 film, “MURDER
and murder,” is a lesbian love story.
more than just a film-viewing venue;
it’s also a one-stop shop for artistic On Aug. 14, Nightletter will screen
programming. The Grays Avenue stu- Ken Jacobs’ “The Sky Socialist,” shot
dio offers space for dance/movement, on low-budget 8mm film, with a sto-
photography and photographic pro- ryline about Anne Frank surviving
cessing and staged experimental art. the Holocaust and marrying surrealist
Along with Bienstock, Shannon Isadore Lhevinne.
Brooks, who operates Window
Room’s film and photography dark-
room, wants to ensure all programs
are queer-inclusive and affordable
— which means often-expensive art
forms like photo processing are avail-
able to all.
Bienstock said the community is
availing itself of the accessible ser-
vices.
“One of the most important things
to us is that we cultivate people to
use our darkroom and rehearsal space
who don’t often have access to the
expensive equipment and space that
is needed to practice those art forms,”
he noted. “Thus far, since March, this
has almost entirely been made up of
LGBTQ people. So, we’re not just a
live-event space but also a resource
for marginalized people to have inex-
pensive access to rehearsal and pho-
tography.” ■
Window Room is located at 5213 Grays
Ave. For more information, visit facebook. FROM “TRIO A” COURTESY VIDEO
com/nightletter2. DATA BANK
22 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 COMICS
PGN

A very queer post-Pride Philly scavenger hunt

By Larry Nichols
larry@epgn.com
Two local artists have extended Pride
Month into July by creating a “Queer Eye”
artistic scavenger hunt throughout the city.
Symone Salib, painter and street artist,
and Nicole Nikolich, crochet, street and
installation artist, canvassed the city to
place wheat-paste and yarn-bomb art instal-
lations depicting series castmembers Bobby
Berk, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness,
Karamo Brown and Tan France.
The “Fab Five” are coming to Philadelphia
for the show’s fifth season. Berk has shared
Salib and Nikolich’s artistic rendering of
with some little game.”
Both artists said that part of the fun of
creating an artistic scavenger hunt was
knowing it’s only temporary.
“It’s not going to last long. Just have fun
with it. That’s how I approach art, anyway,”
said Nikolich. “We’re going to create this. It
doesn’t have to be perfect.”
Added Salib: “That’s what’s beautiful
about it — knowing that only a few peo-
ple or a few-hundred people get to interact
with it.”
“It also creates a sense of urgency,”
Nikolich said. “Get out there and see it
while you can.”
The artists hope that participants and
spectators will enjoy both the installa-
tions and the hunt.
“With all art, you can make it
with your own intention,” Salib said.
“Whatever you make, people are going
to look at it and interpret it in their own
way, however they see fit. It can be any-
thing. It can open their eyes or it can be
a playful part of their day. You can walk
down the street and it will change their
entire vibe.” ■
For more information on the installa-
tions and artists, visit Instagram: @
symonesalibstudio and @lace_in_the_
moon.

Photos: courtesy of Symone Salib and Nicole Nikolich

him on Instagram July 1, bringing attention.

Brown’s depiction is somewhere near
the house in which he lived when he
first achieved fame, on “The Real World
Philadelphia.” Porowski can be found along
the 1300 block of South Street; Berk is at
38th Street and Lancaster Avenue; France is
at the intersection of Frankford Avenue and
Belgrade Street; and Van Ness is near the
intersection of 10th and Manning streets.
“We decided we wanted to extend the
Pride celebration,” said Nikolich, whose art
includes crochet. “Pride was really big this
year, but there was a backlash about corpo-
rations and exploitation of the rainbow flag
and LGBT rights. We thought that announc-
ing this on the last day of Pride shows an
all-year-round celebration of Pride instead
of [just] throughout the month of June.
Then we wanted to create a scavenger hunt
to get people in Philly involved and outside
during the month of July.”
Salib, a painter, said the hunt’s connec-
tion to “Queer Eye” was inspired by the
artists’ personal experiences as transplants
who quickly felt at home in Philadelphia.
“I feel like a lot of people in Philadelphia
are really welcoming. I remember moving
here a few years ago and meeting more
people than I expected. Me and Nicole, both
moving here a few years ago, we decided to
welcome the ‘Queer Eye’ guys to the city
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 23

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24 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019
Heady queer film screens locally
By Gary M. Kramer
PGN Contributor
The late, iconic gay British film-
maker Derek Jarman made distinc-
tive films that challenged viewers as
much as they provoked censors and
tweaked the establishment. Case in
point: “Sebastiane,” his brilliant fea-
ture directorial debut in 1976, was a
homoerotic, X-rated, all-male, all-nude
period piece, set in 300 A.D., entirely in
Latin. Defiantly queer but infused with
soulfulness, sensitivity and steeliness,
Jarman created works that embraced
sexuality but also addressed issues of
art, politics, philosophy and religion.
On July 13, at 7 p.m., the Lightbox
Film Center, 3701 Chestnut Street, is
screening a 2K restoration of the direc-
tor’s 1990 feature, “The Garden,” — a
glorious tone poem, a polemic made
during the height of the AIDS crisis and
an impressionistic meditation that, as
the opening voiceover states, “offers a
journey without direction.”
Mostly wordless and plotless, “The
Garden” is spellbinding throughout.
Shot on Super-8, 16mm, and video, the
film is both raw and sensual. Pleasure
comes as vivid images wash across
the screen and the audience. Viewers
can bask in the texture of reflective
water scenes or be haunted by episodes
lit entirely by candlelight or flares.
Luminous shots of the sky and clouds
are filmed in sped-up or time-lapse
photography. The musical score ranges
from a Russian church choir to a drag
queen lip-syncing “Think Pink” — a
dazzling sequence where Jarman proj-
ects scenes of gay protesters in the
background.
“The Garden” follows two handsome,
unnamed gay lovers (Kevin Collins and
Johnny Mills) — a kind of Adam and
Steve, perhaps, with the titular Garden
being Eden. They are seen kissing and
caressing early on and their affection
is tender and palpable as they bathe in
an outdoor tub. This sequence is juxta-
posed with another homoerotic vignette
featuring a sexy, shirtless man getting
washed; but his identity and story are
limited to only glimpses — as if Jarman
is teasing viewers.
As the film progresses the lovers
encounter Christ (Roger Cook) in one
scene, while another episode involves
a trio of men dressed in Santa suits
singing carols as the guys lie snuggled
together in a bed outdoors. All of this
bliss is short lived as eventually the lov-
ers are punished in extended episodes
that involves them first being bound
and gagged and tarred and feathered
and then strung up and beaten.
Jarman looks to generate emotions
from viewers. The director makes very
clear points about religion and how the
LGBTQ community has been poorly
ENTERTAINMENT
PGN LISTINGS
Theater & Arts
Latin History For
Morons
John Leguizamo performs
Art presents a collection
of textile art, sculpture,
and paintings acquired
treated, especially during the AIDS his one-man show 8 p.m. from the Souls Grown
crisis. Jarman’s anger stems from his The Art of Collage July 19 at Merriam Theater, Deep Foundation through
own HIV-positive diagnosis two years and Assemblage 250 S. Broad St.; 215-893- Sept. 2, 26th Street and the
before this film was released; he died in Philadelphia Museum of 1999. Parkway; 215-763-8100.
1994. Another sequence of homopho- Art presents an exhibition
bic violence involves a drag queen of mixed-material works Legally Blonde: The We the People:
being attacked. from contemporary artists Musical American Prints from
Much of “The Garden” involves through Sept. 2, 26th Walnut Street Theatre Between the World
scenes that allow viewers to create Street and the Parkway; presents the musical Wars
their own meaning. Numerous images 215-763-8100. adaptation of the hit Philadelphia Museum of
entrance, enchant or disturb. One comedy film about a SoCal Art presents an exhibition
sequence involves 12 female apos- Arte Povera: Homage sorority girl who becomes of prints depicting the
tles sitting at a table a la “The Last to Amalfi ’68 a law student, through July good times, hard times
Supper” creating sounds from glasses Philadelphia Museum of 21, 825 Walnut St.; 215- and wartime experiences
Art presents an exhibition 574-3550. of everyday Americans
recreating one artist’s in the 1930-40s, through
reactionary exhibition Mimi Imfurst Presents July 24, 26th Street and the
against minimalism and Drag Diva Brunch Parkway; 215-763-8100.
pop art, through Jan. Mimi Imfurst and special
5, 26th Street and the guests perform 11 a.m.-2 Yoshitoshi: Spirit and
Parkway; 215-763-8100. p.m. July 13 at Punch Line Spectacle
Philly, 33 E. Laurel St.; Philadelphia Museum of
Herbert Ferber: Form 215-606-6555. Art presents an exhibition
into Space featuring the brilliant
Philadelphia Museum of New Chinese Galleries colors and spirited lines of
Art presents an exhibition Philadelphia Museum of Yoshitoshi, the last great
featuring sculptures and Art presents an exhibition master of the traditional
KEVIN COLLINS AND JOHNNY
related drawings Herbert exploring 4,000 years Japanese woodblock print,
MILLS IN “THE GARDEN.”
Ferber (1906-91) created of Chinese art, through through Aug. 18, 26th
Photo: Liam Daniel © Basilisk Communications
during the 1950s — his summer, 26th Street and the Street and the Parkway;
Ltd. Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films.
most creative period, Parkway; 215-763-8100. 215-763-8100.
through Aug. 18, 26th
filled with water, against a rear pro- Street and the Parkway; Queer Americans: Who
jection backdrop. One scene shows
a woman (Tilda Swinton, Jarman’s
215-763-8100. We Are Music
William Way LGBT
muse) being chased by photographers; The Impressionist’s Community Center hosts
Swinton shows up throughout the film Eye an exhibition featuring the Classic Albums: Led
as a religious Madonna. And then there Philadelphia Museum of dynamic works of three Zeppelin I & II
is a truly bizarre episode involving Art presents an exhibition queer artists, through Aug. The first two Led Zeppelin
Judas, dressed in leather, hanging from featuring the works of 30, 1315 Spruce St; 215- albums are performed
a noose with his bloody tongue out Claude Monet, Mary 732-2220. back to back in this tribute
selling credit cards. Irreverent? Yes! Cassatt, Vincent van concert to celebrate the
Pretentious? Perhaps. But also, pure Gogh and others, through Souls Grown Deep: 50th anniversary of Led
Jarman. Aug. 18, 26th Street and Artists of the African Zeppelin performing in
The director positions himself in the Parkway; 215-763- American South Philadelphia, 8 p.m. July
the film — Jarman in nature, in his 8100. Philadelphia Museum of 12 at Mann Center for the
Dungeness garden and several shots of
him lying — sometimes naked, some-
times covered with a sheet — in a bed
positioned in the sand at the edge of the
ocean as a handful of shirtless men and
women dance around him with flares.
These moments add a layer of depth
and poignancy to the work. For fans of
the director, it is like looking through
an old photo album and seeing a friend
from the past.
“The Garden” is a heady mix of sad-
ness and fury, from the elegiac score to
a scene of Swinton screaming. Lyrical
images of gardens and fields represent
growth and nature. Some scenes sug-
gest sadomasochism, while others offer
highly stylized sequences, such as an
overheated episode in a sauna where
the lovers embrace and a fantastical,
wondrous scene involving Christ and
naked men on a hillside hidden by YOU & MISS JONES: “Saturday Night Live” star, comedian and actor, Leslie
smoke and illuminated by flares. Jones, brings her outrageous brand of comedy to the stage when she performs,
“The Garden” is left open to interpre- 7 p.m. July 13 at Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St. For more information or
tation — but that should encourage, not tickets, call 215-893-1999.
prevent, anyone from going to see it. ■
 ENTERTAINMENT
PGN LISTINGS Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 25

Sneak peak of documentary

forefronting QTPoC

SWEET & STICKY: Swedish electro-pop singer, Robyn, brings her Honey Tour
back to the U.S. for a quick run of dates that stops in Philly for a night of
infectious dance music, 7 p.m. July 17 at Mann Center for the Performing
Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave. For more information or tickets, call 215-546-7900.

Performing Arts, 5201 7 p.m. July 19 at The Met, Josh Groban

Parkside Ave., 215-546- 858 N. Broad St.; info@ The singer-songwriter
7900. TheMetPhilly.com. performs 8 p.m. July 13
at the Borgata Hotel,
Radio 104.5 Presents Casino & Spa Event STILL FROM “I IDENTIFY AS ME”
Sad Summer Festival Nightlife Center, 1 Borgata Way, to talk about and examine issues faced
The Wonder Years, The Atlantic City, N.J.; 609- By Zaakiyah Rogers by LGBTQ-plus minorities.
Maine, Mayday Parade 317-1000. PGN Contributor Since June 2017, Qunify has held
and more perform 2 p.m. Daddy & Friends discussions and events that provide
July 13 at Mann Center The monthly boylesque Almost Queen Qunify, an LGBTQ-centered social Philadelphia’s LGBTQ folks the
for the Performing Arts, showcase returns, 7:30 The Queen tribute band community, will host a free preview of opportunity to focus on intersectional
5201 Parkside Ave., 215- p.m. July 13 at L’Etage, performs, 8 p.m. July 13 a documentary that celebrates QTPoC identities.
546-7900. 624 S. Sixth St.; 215-592- at The Queen, 500 N. who are masculine of center and gen- The community group was founded
0696. Market St., Wilmington, derfluid women and gender noncon- by Philadelphia locals Neha Ghosh,
Psychedelic Furs & Del.; 202-730-3331. forming folks at William Way LGBT Eric Schroeckenthaler, Dredier Roberts,
James Black Girl Magic Community Center. Vincent Scarfo and Sofia Oleas.
The alternative rock The monthly charity drag Top Gun Directed and produced by Tina Ghosh believes the preview of “I
bands perform 8 p.m. show featuring black The slick war Colleen and Monick Monell and shot Identify As Me” and disucssion that
July 13 at Franklin Music performers, 8 p.m. July 13 propaganda film and and edited by Safiyah Chiniere, the follows “will help other queer folx
Hall, 421 N. Seventh St.; at Voyeur Nightclub, 1221 commercial for the People of Color Productions docu- that may be more masc of center
215-627-1332. Saint James St.; 215-735- military industrial mentary “I Identify As Me” centers and/or nonbinary dig into how they
5772. complex, disguised on intersecting identities of QTPoC are treated in this current state of the
Rob Thomas as action blockbuster/ through personal stories. The cast world.”
Matchbox 20 singer Hot Damn romantic drama is includes Charlie Trotman, Chayse Qunify founders aim to bridge the
performs, 8 p.m. July 13 The cabaret dance show screened 7:45 p.m. Attah, Frankie Classe, Lydia X.Z. gap between communities, according
at The Met, 858 N. Broad turns up the heat, 8 July 19 at The Colonial Brown, TJ Love and Meek Jaffee. to its mission. With pillars of “fam,
St.; info@TheMetPhilly. p.m. July 13 at Franky Theatre, 227 Bridge St., The film’s producers and cast will woke and positive impact,” the group
com. Bradley’s 1320 Chancellor Phoenixville; 610-917- join Qunify at the July 13 screening hopes to create spaces where mem-
St.; 215-735-0735. 1228. from 1-4 p.m. and participate in dis- bers of the LGBTQ community “con-
Third Eye Blind & cussions with attendees. sciously treat each other like the cho-
Jimmy Eat World SWAY With a QTPoC cast and crew, the sen family we are” and “work to build
The rock bands performs, The monthly queer dance documentary offers a deep dive into our cultural competnencies by listen-
7 p.m. July 14 at BB&T party featuring all-POC
Pavilion, 1 Harbour Blvd., DJs , 9 p.m.-2 a.m. July Notices topics of masculinity and sexual flu-
idity, as well as societal pressure,
ing to others’ experiences.”
Since is origination, Qunify has
Camden, N.J.; 856-365- 13 at Tabu, 254 S. 12th classism and racism, and gives a nar- organized and hosted events focused
1300. St.; 215-964-9675. Send notices at least one rative controlled by those the film on “QTPOC Mental Wellness,
week in advance to:
depicts. Immigration and queerness, Queer
Robert Randolph & Out & About Listings, Erin Busbee, director of grants and Fashion, Queer consent culture,” said
The Family Band Outta Town PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., events at William Way said, “I believe Ghosh.
The blues-rock band Philadelphia, PA 19147 that showing representations of what At this event, Qunify invites those
performs 8 p.m. July 17 queer masculinity looks like in com- in attendance to talk about their iden-
at Sellersville Theatre, Blobfest 2019 fax: 215-925-6437;
munities of color is important to share tities and relationship to masculinity,
24 W. Temple Ave., The classic sci-fi/horror or e-mail: and continue to put out and educate as as well as the ways folks share them-
Sellersville; 215-257- film is celebrated 7:30 p.m. listings@epgn.com. well as show younger generations that selves and oepn up to other commu-
5808. July 12 at The Colonial variations can exist.” nity members. ■
Theatre, 227 Bridge St., Notices cannot be taken over
The discussion is part of Qunify’s
the phone.
311 and Dirty Heads Phoenixville; 610-917- themed discussion series, “Our An outline of the event is available on
The rock bands perform, 1228. Stories,” which provides a safe space Facebook.com/qunifyphl.
26 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 Q PUZZLE
PGN

Plastique Tiara and foes bring

‘Race’ to the stage
Her competitors from season 11 are no
By Larry Nichols slouches either.
larry@epgn.com West, who came in sixth place after
she lost a lackluster lip-sync battle to
The season-11 stars of the Emmy-winning Ganache, recently had a street named
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” are out from behind after her in her hometown of Columbus,
the lens this summer. Ohio. The campy performer has raised
Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Brooke Lynn more than $2.5 million for the LGBTQ
Hytes, A’kiera Chanel Davenport, Kahanna community.
Montrese, Nina West, Ariel Versace and Ganache and Davenport nearly made it
Plastique Tiara will instead be on stage —
closest to Philly, at Glenside’s Keswick
Theatre — on a tour sponsored by Voss
Events with World of Wonder and VH1.
While the queens are competitive foes in
the glare of TV cameras, they’re more likely
to keep things friendly and civil on the road.
“It’s going to be a lot more fun because
we are outside of the competitive environ-
ment,” said Tiara, who ended the season
in eighth place. “We know the results. The
conflicts seem to be mended by now, and
we’re all sisters at the end of the day.
“It’s more about showing what we can
do, showing our talents and what we have
to offer the audience rather than trying to
trip each other on the runway,” she added.
Tiara, the daughter of Alyssa Edwards,
fought until the end of season 11. During
her lip-sync battle, she gave a heartwarming
Q Puzzle 39 “___ De-Lovely” 9 Unlock, in verse tric organs tribute to the House of Edwards before she
was defeated by Miss Vanjie, who is not on Photos: Brandon Voss
40 Shapely back- 10 Angry words be- 40 Rainbow shape
How Many side, e.g.? fore “to hell” 41 Sauna bath sites the tour. Mostly staying out of the drama,
Presidents 42 Shakespearean 11 She played 44 10-to-1, and she was only in the social-media spotlight to the finals but were bested by Hytes, the
Were Queer? prince Glinda in “The Wiz” others when tour-mate Ganache implied she was season-11 runner-up. An experienced and
43 It’s human 12 Caesar’s last 46 Setting for TV’s Japanese. refined queen, she was ousted in the finals
Across 45 “Designing question “Portlandia” Tiara, who is from Vietnam, didn’t say by enigma Yvie Oddly.
1 Anne Hathaway’s Women” actress 17 It’s a long story 48 Not for some While Tiara long outlived Versace and
“enchanted” role Annie 18 Like a top who like it hot
5 Like a muscle 47 Pearl Harbor at- 23 Long, long time 49 Barber’s “Antony
Montrese, her astounding beauty couldn’t
Mary’s waist tack, e.g. 25 Old Queens lo- and Cleopatra,” e.g. carry her as far as she would have liked.
9 Look around at a 52 End of the an- cation 50 Out But, she said, being part of the wildly pop-
gay bar swer 26 Muse for Millay 51 Joins with a ular TV show changed her outlook on life.
13 Disneyland 56 Part of Hawaii 27 Blows away torch “The most important thing I’ve learned
street 57 Take off your 28 Lines from Les- 52 Shakespeare’s is to have faith in myself and to have fun
14 Chaplin widow clothes bos foot and be in the moment,” said Tiara. “I
15 Langston 58 The way you 29 Rub the wrong 53 Unfeeling felt like, going in it, I just wanted to win
Hughes or James come way 54 “Peter Pan” and, coming out of it, I’m a whole new
Merrill 60 BB’s, e.g. 30 Salmon that has pooch person. I have a new perspective on life
16 Start of Pete 61 Steamed up spawned 55 Personal quirks
Buttigieg’s answer 62 “ ___ Upon a 31 Trick alternative 56 Rita’s second
because I learned to have fun and live in
to “Which presi- Mattress” 32 End note name the moment.”
dents were gay?” 63 Peters out 35 Some have elec- 59 Prefix with room She added that she learned about social
19 Fireplace re- 64 Cameron and media and marketing and has worked with
mains Mitchell, to Lily “a lot of influencers.”
20 Brody of “The 65 Sally Ride’s org. “I’ve been very lucky and very blessed.
Pianist” much but she did correct Ganache’s mis- I’m very grateful for what ‘Drag Race’
21 T, to Socrates Down take. Vietnam, she said, is so much fun and has done for me. It’s escalated my career
22 It tops many 1 Thompson of “An- “has so much culture and so many things to a whole new level.”
roads gels in America” to see.” But credit also goes to the performer
24 Neighbor of Leb. 2 Potato chip brand
26 More of the an- 3 Dorothy Parker
Tiara said she’s proud to represent both herself.
swer specialty Vietnam and the United States on camera “It’s a combination of being lucky and
32 Stick it in milk 4 Alicia of “Falcon and on stage — and she plans to continue. using the opportunity to skyrocket your-
33 Comic strip dog Crest” “I’m going to be working a lot throughout self,” she said. ■
34 Wilde country 5 Sondheim’s Swee- this year,” she said. “I’m going to try and
36 Country dance ney get on YouTube and have more content. I “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 11 Tour comes
spot 6 “The Lion King” have some projects in the works I’m excited to the Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave. in
37 More of the an- sound for. I can’t say yet, but I’m just spreading Glenside, 8 p.m. July 17. For more information
swer 7 Icon letters Plastique Tiara everywhere. The more, the or tickets, call 215-572-7650 or visit lifeinplas-
38 “The African 8 “Margaret Mead merrier.” tique.com.
Queen” author ___ Me Gay”

FAMILY PORTRAIT | SUZI NASH |
Juno Rosenhaus: Documenting the queer experience
Sometimes I find my interviewees ran-
domly. A few weeks ago at the Mariposa
Food Co-op, I was leaving the store and
saw a small business card pinned to the
bulletin board that caught my eye from an
artist running a group called “Queer [as
fuck] Artists Social Media.”
With a title like that, I had to call. I
made an appointment to speak to Juno
Rosenhaus, a self-described “portrait, art,
and documentary photographer, andro-
queer feminist, anti-racist and anti-fascist
activist and drummer” and met up with
her before her ACT UP meeting.
PGN: I think we are from the same area.
I was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and
you’re from nearby Nutley if I’m not mis-
taken.
JR: I am! Both of my parents were from
Passaic, and I grew up going to my
grandmother’s house there.
PGN: How old were you when you left?
JR: I was 17…. But it was a wonderful
way to grow up being surrounded by
parks. Winter, summer, we were always
out playing. You’d cross the street and
cut through the neighbors’ yard to yet
another park. We had a middle-class
upbringing, back then when there still
was a middle class. I was a tomboy, of
course, played all the sports, and I’ve
been interested in photography since high
school. We were lucky enough to have
photography classes — dark room, black
and white, the whole thing, so that’s
where I got started.
PGN: We were so close to New York that
we’d go in all the time. Did you have the
same experience?
JR: Yes. I’m the oldest of three kids,
and my mom, specifically, took us all
the time. We had relatives there too, so
we’d go to museums and the theater and
all sorts of things. We also went to the
Montclair museum a lot.
PGN: I was just in Montclair yesterday
for my cousin’s graduation party. What
was one of your favorite outings in New
York?
JR: Oh wow. I remember going to Radio
City Music Hall when I was younger and
then going to the city with my friends
when I was a little older. We’d take the
bus in and get off at 42nd Street and lord
knows what we did from there. But I
remember the buzz and excitement and
all the people around, though I didn’t
really get to know the city until I moved
back to this coast.
PGN: When you left, where did you go?
JR: I went far, compared to my other
classmates. I went to school in Arizona
for the photography program there. That
PGN
PROFILE Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 27
was a whole different life, and I spent a
number of years there before moving to
San Francisco.
PGN: What was the biggest culture shock
moving to Arizona?
JR: The weather! There’s no winter per
se, you have things like sandstorms and
the summers are so ridiculously hot you
can’t go outside, but of course I was that
kid who still wore corduroy pants in the
summer. On the good side, I was being
introduced to photography on a whole
new level. And art, I started out as an art
major. I went to Arizona State which at
the time was considered the biggest party
school in the country.
PGN: There must have been beautiful
scenery to shoot.
JR: You’d think, but Phoenix in my mind
was a lot of golf courses paved over the
desert. Nearby Tucson had much more
interesting landscapes.
PGN: And then you moved to San
Francisco. Had you come out before you
moved there?
JR: You know, I can never say that I ever
specifically came out. I just wanted to
live like I was always out. But I think
by the time I moved to San Francisco, I
identified as bisexual. [Laughing] I really
wanted to identify as a lesbian, but it just
wasn’t the case at that point! I finally
figured it out by reading, “Bi Any Other
Name” which was a classic bisexual
anthology. It helped me understand why
I wasn’t totally comfortable in all lesbian
spaces or all straight spaces. In the ’80s,
it was such a binary world, and I was
looking to fit into one world or another,
and I didn’t. But that book was a revela-
tion.
minor. That was my introduction to fem- years that I’ve become more involved
PGN: Speaking of binary things, I should inism on a much larger scale, but I also with the LGBTQ movement and have
ask your pronouns. I go by she/her, took a lot of art classes while there too. been focusing on documenting that his-
though I’ll answer to more. tory. I’ve been working on different proj-
JR: Me too. As a little tomboy, I was PGN: What was the most San Francisco- ects that commemorate artists and people
misgendered a lot, but I didn’t bat an eye ish thing you experienced there? who lived through the height of the AIDS
if someone thought I was a little boy, JR: Walking down Haight Street on some crisis. One project is called “Bodies on
though I do remember one incident when sort of drug, playing drums on the Hill the Line,” and it is a memorial to journal-
I was five or six where I was yelled at or by the Golden Gate Bridge, or maybe ists who died of AIDS, and others who
because I went into the girls’ room and living in a house and commune with 10 covered the epidemic. I’m also working
yelling back, “But I’m a girl!” other people. on a photography project called “Vulvas
Queered,” and it is the biggest project
PGN: So you’re a multigenre artist. What PGN: It sounds like you were living a I’ve attempted. It’s a mixed-media photo
was the first art piece that your mother ’60s life in the ’80s! project that allows people to explore their
displayed most proudly? JR: A little bit! In fact, we were living in relationship with their vulva. I’ve found
JR: That’s funny because I don’t recall a place on Baker Street called the East- that no matter how open a person is, we
her ever displaying my art, but she still West House that’s been well documented all still have ways that we were taught to
has a finger painting of my brother’s to historically. think about our genitals and dealing with
this day! ourselves. For trans folks, it can be even
PGN: What did you do after that? more complicated, sometimes combined
PGN: Arizona was for photography, what JR: I actually moved back to Arizona with dysphoria issues, and this project
did you study at San Francisco State? and became very involved with the labor gives everyone a chance to explore differ-
JR: I did a little bit of a switch and was a movement. It’s only about the past 10 ent notions. So many women
sociology major with a women’s studies PAGE 30
28 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 PGN
DANCE
BalletX marks the spot with royal tale
By A.D. Amorosi
PGN Contributor
“The Little Prince” remains one of the
best-selling and most-translated books in
history.
In the 76 years since its first publica-
tion, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s original
French novella has been adapted to screen
and stage and interpreted through every-
thing from graphic novel to movie musi-
cals to opera.
Now, one of Philadelphia’s most cut-
ting-edge dance companies is putting its
own spin on the classic story.
BalletX is premiering choreographer
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “The Little
Prince” — a full-length, family-friendly
ballet — through July 21 at the Wilma
Theater.
“[Ochoa] gave the movement such a
RODERICK PHIFER Photos: Vikki Sloviter
playful feel, and it makes it exciting,
yet athletic,” said Roderick Phifer, who
dances the role of the title character. “I
feel that this will give the audience a
SPONSORED BY: chance to develop a relationship with the
little-prince character.”
The out Phifer admitted he didn’t grow
up on the famed novella — which, he said,
enabled him to take on the role with an
open mind. And he immediately related
to the prince’s character “because I was
always the fearless kid who loved learning
new things, people and spaces.”
The dancer said his character’s com-
plexity comes with his relationship to the
pilot, who crashes his plane and lands in
the desert, and subsequently hallucinates
from dehydration — which reveals the
prince for the first time.
“The story revolves around their jour-
ney together to try and help save the pilot.
Along the way, the little prince shows the
pilot that his key to happiness is through
curiosity and to not anticipate what’s
next,” said Phifer, adding the movement
component: “His character requires spe-
cific theatrics in expression and body
language.”
With such a serious message, Ochoa’s
“The Little Prince” extends beyond a fan-
ciful fairytale. Yet, in an ode to playful-
ness, she incorporates white boxes remi-
niscent of blocks onstage.
As Phifer has learned, “The Little
Prince” is full of symbolism. And, as the
dancer took to expressing his character, he
said he realized how easy it is for adults to
lose innocence and motivation.
“We get older and forget that the one
true thing that makes us is our creativity
and individuality.”
Phifer, a North Carolina native, has been
dancing with the nationally renowned
BalletX since his senior year at University
of the Arts, from which he graduated in
2017. The contemporary dance company
aligns with his sensibilities.
“I find it more intriguing to bend the
rules a bit,” he said. “Creatively, bod-
ies can do so many things, and how we
communicate to an audience with them
is important. Translating movement into
a concept requires so much detail and
precision. It’s so much more complicated
than it seems and, as performers, it’s our
job to value it.”
Phifer and his fellow dancers also value
hard work: While many performance com-
panies slow down for the summer, BalletX
has kicked the season into high gear with
the ambitious production.
Matthew Neenan and Christine Cox,
who founded the company in 2005, called
upon an award-winning team for “The
Little Prince,” including famed Philly sce-
nic designer Matt Saunders, U.K. bal-
let and film/TV composer Peter Salem,
renowned dramaturg Nancy Meckler and
Ochoa, a Belgium native based in the
Netherlands whose choreography credits
include a much-heralded ballet rendition
of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Before preparation for this production,
BalletX also was busy moving to its new
home at 1923 Washington Ave. — a space
that, Phifer said, “gives the aura of a giant
lab where we are always researching a
fresh way to share.”
The steady creative output keeps the
dancers moving — and, according to
Phifer, challenges them to take chances.
“BalletX is a group that enjoys risks and
new ideas, and it plays a big part of the
company’s character.” ■
For more information and tickets to “The
Little Prince,” visit balletx.org.
 SCENEPGN
IN PHILLY Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 29

OUT AT FRANKY BRADLEY’S

AND STIR LOUNGE PHOTOS BY KELLY BURKHARDT

2 4

5 7

1. Lil St. Queer at her monthly show “Cabaret

Sauvignon” at Franky Bradley’s
2. Brittany and Michael at Gender Queery at Stir
Lounge
3. Beary Tyler Moore and Gritty
4. Paula Dean White
5. Icon Ebony-Fierce
6. Josh as Stage Kitten
7. Samantha Satin
3 6
30 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019
The pulse on queer Hollywood
By Romeo San Vicente
PGN Contributor
Janelle Monáe hits “The Road”
with Gloria Steinem
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem’s 2015
memoir titled “My Life On The Road”
concerned her childhood, one that saw
her moving from place to place, and how
it informed her later life as a writer and
an activist for women’s rights. Now that
book will be a film from director Julie
Taymor (“Frida,” “Across The Universe”)
called “The Glorias: A Life on The Road.”
No fewer than four actors will portray
Steinem at various stages in life: Ryan
Kiera Armstrong (Netflix’s “Anne”), Lulu
Wilson (“Sharp Objects”), Alicia Vikander
and Julianne Moore. And they’ll be joined
by queer icon Janelle Monáe in a support-
ing role, as well as Timothy Hutton, Bette
Midler and Lorraine Toussaint. Already
wrapped, no release date has been set,
but it’s exciting that a living, breathing
heroine of modern civil rights is getting
FIRST LOOK AT “BREAKING NEWS IN YUBA COUNTY”
the biopic treatment. And of course these
kinds of films carry with them the familiar
feeling of awards season, which means it’s
going to be Feminist Christmas this year.
Or next.
Ryan Murphy’s “Prom”posal
Netflix decided to show its subscrib-
ers the closing night performance of
Broadway’s heartwarming queer musical
“Prom,” later this summer. And now the
movie adaptation is in the works also
from, who else, Ryan Murphy, king of
all things high school and singing. Oh,
and he has stars: Meryl Streep, James
Corden, Nicole Kidman, Ariana Grande,
Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key and
Andrew Rannells, for starters, with a cast-
ing call on to fill the role of teenage lesbian
Emma, whose one wish is to bring her girl-
friend to the prom. This one has a timeline
in place, a late 2020 theatrical release for
awards consideration, and you know La
PGN
PORTRAIT from page 27
Streep will not rest until she gets an Oscar
for super-singing in a musical comedy. So
it’s pretty much on.
The women of “Breaking News In
Yuba County”
A woman catches her husband in bed
with another woman. He dies of a heart
attack at that same moment. She buries his
body — as one does — and basks in the
glow of the local news and the glamour of
being the performatively worried spouse
of a missing husband. What could go
wrong? You’ll find out in “Breaking News
In Yuba County,” the latest from director
Tate Taylor (“Ma,” “The Help”). It stars
Awkwafina, Mila Kunis, Ellen Barkin,
Regina Hall, Juliette Lewis, Allison
Janney, Samira Wiley, Wanda Sykes and
Bridget Everett, to name a couple hand-
fuls of talented women. And while it’s not
clear if this story is going to be played for
“Gone Girl”-esque thriller potential or “9
to 5”-style wacky comedy, look for it to
break into theaters in 2020.
Photo: Anna Kooris for AGC Studios
Queer horror fans unite and take
over
If you’re a horror movie addict, you
already spend too much time streaming
films on Shudder. And now that Shudder
has proven themselves as producers of very
cool stuff like “Horror Noire: A History
of Black Horror” — a documentary that
shined its light on a neglected area of the
horror film story — they’re coming back
around with a similar film about queer
horror. Writer-director Sam Wineman is in
production of an untitled feature that will
“explore the complex, fascinating history
of queer horror on film,” from James Whale
(“Bride of Frankenstein”), Clive Barker
and many others. And it’s not going to shy
away — how could it — from the history of
problematic and coded queer characters in
horror films such as “A Nightmare on Elm
Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge,” “Sleepaway
Camp” and “High Tension.” It’s coming to
get you in 2020. ■
are told that their vulva is too something
— your labia is too big, your clitoris is
too small, or something about their pubic
hair — and it affects women. It makes
people self-conscious, and this project
gives people a chance to address it or
change the image they have and hope-
fully start to accept themselves. They can
create art to reflect a positive image for
themselves.
PGN: Give me an example.
JR: It’s a photograph often combined with
something. For example, I have one per-
son who was into embroidery, which she
learned from her grandmother who was
a strident feminist; so, her vision was to
take the picture of her vulva, print it onto
fabric and embroider it. I photographed a
transperson who does science-fiction art-
work creating new types of genitals that
are different combinations of genitals to
create new variations. So, we took their
artwork and put it on their genitals and
photographed them. It was really empow-
ering. I’ve done about 20 so far and look-
ing to do a lot more.
PGN: What is QASM?
JR: Queer (as fuck) Social Media is an
agency that I put together a few years ago.
I work with mostly queer artists doing
website design, photography, social media
management and training, and event coor-
dination. Of course, I can also do photog-
raphy for events, headshots, marketing
promos, etc. I’m excited to say I’ll be
working soon with Ariel Gore, a fantastic
writer who founded Hip Mama Magazine
and has a new book coming out called
“Hexing the Patriarchy,” which contains
spells and other cool things.
PGN: How did you get into drumming?
JR: As a kid I wanted to drum, and thank-
fully my parents were really supportive.
My dad got me a drum set, and I had that
classic drum set in the basement set up
and played all the time.
PGN: Crazy band moment?
JR: I drummed in grammar school march-
ing band. I remember doing a concert
once and there was me and one other
snare drummer, and we had a big solo
together. He froze, so I got a solo, solo!
PGN: I see you have quite a few tattoos,
tell me about your first one?
JR: Mickey Hart, the drummer from the
Grateful Dead has written books about the
history of drumming, and in one of them,
there are images found on cave walls of
women drumming, so my first tattoo was
one of those images. I also have a tat-
too that represents my photography. It’s
a quote that says, “You can’t see if the
shutter is closed,” which applies to a lot
of things.
PGN: If your house was on fire and you
could only rescue one picture, which
would it be?
JR: It would be one of my son at the
table eating ice cream, totally in his ele-
ment. I have it on my website.
PGN: Well, that’s a little tidbit I missed.
You’re a mom!
JR: Yes, I have a 20-year-old son. I
always wanted to raise a kid though I
didn’t necessarily want to have one, but
I did. I had a home birth, and it was
incredible. It was pretty much just us his
whole life, and now he’s on his own in
San Francisco.
PGN: What’s a historical event you wish
you could have photographed?
JR: Stonewall. Mainly because there are
still questions about who did what when.
I would have liked to have been able to
document it all and share the informa-
tion.
PGN: You had some great pictures from
the marches in NY last weekend. I loved
the pictures of the signs people were
holding. What’s one of your favorites?
JR: There was a big sign that said, “Stop
Stealing Our Haircuts!”
PGN: I saw that. It made me chuckle.
What was your worst hair moment?
JR: Oh, it would have to be the perm,
or the other perm, or the one after that.
They were all bad, and I have a photo of
at least one of them.
PGN: Hobby?
JR: I don’t know if it’s a hobby, but I
love and obsess over maps, paper maps
— eventually to be used in an art project
I’m sure.
PGN: A sound that gets under your skin?
JR: [Laughing] Drum circles! A lot of
times they’re not all quite on beat and it
makes me twitch.
PGN: Any pets?
JR: I wish I could have something now,
but I can’t. I had all sorts of things
growing up: goldfish, cats, gerbils, mul-
tiple dogs, but my all time favorite was
Blacky, a lovable mutt, smart as heck,
who would wait on me patiently while I
put on my shoes to go for a walk. Blacky
was a pal.
PGN: Last song you listened to?
JR: Something at the Liberation March.
PGN: Favorite historical figure?
JR: Emma Goldman. She wrote, “Living
My Life.” She was totally radical in all
sorts of areas from thinking to sexuality.
A lot of what she wrote or said informed
how I envision my life and how I live it.
PGN: Favorite G-rated curse word.
JR: Sometimes I’ll say, “Sugar on a
mountain!”
PGN: Well sugar on a mountain, I think
that brings us to the end of the inter-
view. ■
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com July 12-18, 2019 31

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