PHI LADELPHIA GAY NEWS

est. 1976 HONESTY . INTEGRITY . PROFESSIONALISM

December 27-January 2, 2019 V ol. 43 N o. 52 pgn

O U R H I S T O R Y, O U R F U T U R E First gay character in a comic strip PAG E 4

At year’s end,
looking back at
Stonewall 50
JASON VILLEMEZ
PGN Contributor

On June 30 in New York City, after a week-

long abundance of celebrations, rallies and
worldwide media attention, a group of long-
time LGBTQ activists marched down Fifth
Avenue carrying a banner that read: “Gay
Liberation Front: First To March.” Their ages
ranged from late-60s to mid-80s. They wore
matching T-shirts with their slogan. Some car-
ried photo buttons of friends long departed.
And as they walked downtown toward Chris-
topher Street and the Stonewall Inn, onlookers
greeted them with thunderous applause — a
thank you for the work they began 50 years
ago, work that led to the LGBTQ community
we know today.
“It was an absolute highlight of my long
life,” Ellen Broidy said. “I
was especially thrilled to be page 17

Comcast asks Fennell’s 45-page federal lawsuit was filed

Oct. 14 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern Mazzoni Center offers holiday
judge to District of Pennsylvania. On Dec. 16, Com-
cast filed an 18-page answer, denying Fen-
help for LGBTQ folks
dismiss gay nell’s allegations of discrimination and ask-
ing U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson

man’s lawsuit to dismiss the case as meritless.

TIMOTHY CWIEK
timothy@epgn.com
Comcast Corp. asked a federal judge this
week to dismiss the lawsuit of Klayton Fen-
nell, an openly-gay employee who alleges a
hostile work environment at the media giant
caused him to be passed over for promotions,
subjected to antigay slurs, denied equal pay
and pressured to leave the Philadelphia head-
quarters.
In its filing, Comcast acknowledges that
Fennell and a co-worker were asked to get
along better and that Fennell’s request for a
different job title was denied in 2013. Fen-
nell’s current title is senior vice president of
government affairs. Comcast also acknowl-
edges that a coworker compared Fennell’s
hairstyle to that of figure skater Johnny Weir.
But the filing emphasizes that Comcast
never discriminated against Fennell due to
his sexual orientation or any other protected
trait. “[At] no time during [Fen-
nell’s] long and ongoing career
page 15
MICHELE ZIPKIN
PGN Contributor
The holiday season can be stressful,
and for many members of the LGBTQ
community, it can be particularly har-
rowing. Fortunately, a variety of lo-
cal organizations provide helpful re-
sources, many of which can be found
within the Mazzoni Center’s annual
Holiday Wellness Guide.
The online guide includes a compre-
hensive list of advice on ways to cope
with holiday-related anxiety and stress,
such as dealing with LGBTQ issues in
conjunction with family time and ways
to manage social anxiety. Since its in-
ception roughly a decade ago, the guide
has grown to include suicide emer-
gency resources, housing services and
information on 12-step support groups.
“When we first started out, we knew
that this is a time that a lot of people
struggle,” said Director of Behavioral
Health for the Mazzoni Center Judy
Morrisey.
“You’re bombarded
from the outside with mes- page 14

PA G E 6 PA G E 2 PA G E 7

LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER NJ LAUNCHES CLOTHING DRIVE ACTIVIST KAY LAHUSEN

RECEIVES GRANT FOR LGBT YOUTH CELEBRATES 90TH BIRTHDAY
The Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center Garden State Equality is partnering with The RAIN f you’ve seen photographs of the 1965-69 Independence
in Allentown received a national grant from the ALA to Foundation and NJ Assembly members to launch the state’s Hall Demonstrations, where LGBTQ folks marched for
support 2020 Census work in the LGBT community. first clothing drive for LGBTQ homeless youth. equality, that picture was likely taken by Kay Lahusen.
2 REGIONAL
RESOURCE LISTINGS
LEGAL RESOURCES
PHILADELPHIA COMMISSION ON
HUMAN RELATIONS —
Rue Landau
215-686-4670
PHILADELPHIA POLICE
LIAISON COMMITTEE
215-760-3686
ppd.lgbt@gmail.com
SPARC — STATEWIDE
PENNSYLVANIA RIGHTS COALITION
717-920-9537
ACLU OF PENNSYLVANIA
215-592-1513; aclupa.org
AIDS LAW PROJECT OF PA
215-587-9377; aidslawpa.org
AIDS LAW PROJECT OF
SOUTH JERSEY
856-784-8532; aidslawsnj.org
EQUALITY PA
equalitypa.org; 215-731-1447
OFFICE OF LGBT AFFAIRS —
EVAN THORNBURG
215-686-0330
evan.thornburg@phila.gov
COMMUNITY CENTERS
THE ATTIC YOUTH CENTER
255 S. 16th St.; 215-545-4331
atticyouthcenter.org
For LGBT and questioning youth
and their friends and allies.
LGBT CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF PENNSYLVANIA
3907 Spruce St.; 215-898-5044
center@dolphin.upenn.edu
RAINBOW ROOM: BUCKS
COUNTY’S LGBTQ AND ALLIES
YOUTH CENTER
Salem UCC Education Building
181 E. Cour t St., Doylestown
215-957-7981 ext. 9065
rainbowroom@ppbucks.org
WILLIAM WAY
LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER
1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220
www.waygay.org
H E A LT H A N D H I V T E S T I N G
ACTION WELLNESS
1216 Arch St.; 215-981-0088 ac-
tionwellness.org
AIDS TREATMENT FACT LINE
800-662-6080
AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION
1211 Chestnut St. #405
215-971-2804; HIVcare.org
AIDS LIBRARY
1233 Locust St, aidslibrar y.org
BEBASHI-TRANSITION TO HOPE
1235 Spring Garden St
215-769-3561; bebashi.org
COLOURS
coloursorganization.org
215-832-0100
CONGRESO DE LATINOS UNIDOS
216 W. Somerset St
215-763-8870
GALAEI
149 W. Susquehanna Ave
267-457-3912, galaei.org
Spanish/English
HEALTH CENTER NO. 2
1720 S. Broad St
215-685-1821
LGBT ELDER INITIATIVE
1315 Spruce Street, 4th Floor
lgbtelderintiative.org
215.720.9414
MAZZONI CENTER
1348 Bainbridge St
215-563-0652
mazzonicenter.org
NOVUS ACS
MEDICAL SERVICES
11 DUANE RD, STE A
DOYLESTOWN, PA
267-454-7086
NOVUSACS.COM
PHILADELPHIA FIGHT
1233 Locust St.; 215-985-4448
fight.org
WASHINGTON WEST PROJECT OF
MAZZONI CENTER
1201 Locust St.; 215-985-9206
TRANSGENDER HEALTH ACTION
COALITION
215-732-1207
OTHER
INDEPENDENCE BRANCH LIBRARY
BARBARA GITTINGS GAY AND
LESBIAN COLLECTION
215-685-1633
INDEPENDENCE BUSINESS
ALLIANCE
215-557-0190, independence-
businessalliance.com
LGBT PEER COUNSELING
SERVICES
215-732-TALK
PFLAG: PARENTS, FAMILIES AND
FRIENDS OF LESBIANS AND GAYS
(PHILADELPHIA)
215-572-1833
PHILLY PRIDE PRESENTS
215-875-9288
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019
New Jersey launches clothing
drive for LGBT homeless youth
TIMOTHY CWIEK
timothy@epgn.com
Garden State Equality is partnering
with The RAIN Foundation, New Jersey
Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald
(D-Camden, Burlington) and New Jersey
Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-Cam-
den, Burlington) to launch the state’s first
clothing drive to support LGBTQ homeless
youth.
At the present time, there are no firm
statistics on the number of LGBTQ home-
less youth in New Jersey and where the
youth are located. New Jersey has only one
emergency shelter targeted for LGBTQ
youth, The RAIN Foundation. The nonprofit
is based in East Orange, New Jersey and has
12 beds for LGBTQ homeless youths.
A major priority for Garden State Equal-
ity in 2020 is to secure statewide funding
to support LGBTQ homeless youth. In
the meantime, the group is urging people
to contribute to the winter clothing drive,
where donations will go directly to the
youth served by The RAIN Foundation.
“It’s a tragedy that the LGBTQ youth
experiencing homelessness in New Jersey
are so deeply underserved,” said Christian
Fuscarino, executive director of Garden
State Equality, in a press release. “We’re
working on several legislative solutions to
support these kids. But the most important
and immediate thing each of us can do is
support The RAIN Foundation — and the
youth it serves — with clothing and sup-
plies to improve their lives.”
“It is deeply troubling that so many
LGBTQ youth are facing the hardship
of homelessness,” said Greenwald, in an
email. “The damage of even short bouts of
homelessness to health is well documented,
and there is an immediate need for winter
clothing and supplies right here in our com-
munity. I am committed to supporting the
LGBTQ community and to doing my part in
raising awareness on this important issue.”
Greenwald added that LGBTQ youth are
“nearly twice as likely” as their heterosexu-
al and cis peers to experience homelessness.
“We are so grateful to be collaborating with
Garden State Equality, to help these young
people overcome homelessness and to
deliver much-needed winter clothes to these
kids. Our office will be a drop-off site for
essential items like winter coats, bedding,
and pillows. And we encourage everyone to
stop by and donate,” he said.
Lampitt echoed those sentiments. “To
see these kids in such a desperate situation,
in many cases because they were forced
out of their home by their own families, is
truly heartbreaking,” Lampitt said, in an
email, “I am proud to partner with Garden
State Equality and the RAIN Foundation
to support the LGBTQ community in this
way. And I call on the people of New Jersey
to come together to support these young
people who need our help.”
Elaine Helms, executive director of The
RAIN Foundation, said, “LGBT young peo-
ple don’t deserve to be without a home be-
cause they walk in their truth and choose to
stand up for their right to exist,” in a press
release. “No one deserves to be homeless,
especially because of their sexuality.”
Tamara A. Fleming, board chair of The
RAIN Foundation, said, “As we help [the
youth] navigate through the variety of
resources available to get them back on
their feet, we want to provide them with the
bare necessities that are sometimes hard to
access when you’re experiencing homeless-
ness.”
Donations will be collected until Jan.
31, at drop-off locations listed below, but
Garden State Equality also encourages
people to support The RAIN Foundation
year-round.
“We’ll be actively collecting donations
as well as promoting the drive until Jan.
31,” said Jon Oliveira, Garden State Equal-
ity’s spokesperson. The clothing drive is
expected to be an annual event, he added.
Requested items include winter coats
(sizes: M, L, XL, 2XL); winter boots
(sizes: 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5);
socks, gloves and hand warmers; under-
garments; bedding, comforters and deep
twin sheet sets; pillows; deep twin bed bug
mattress covers; towels and washcloths;
water purifiers; laundry detergent; soap
and shampoo; household cleaners; toolsets;
deodorant; body lotion; hand sanitizers; pa-
per towels; toiletries; and feminine hygiene
products. n
CENTRAL JERSEY DROP-OFF
Garden State Equality
1408 Main Street
Asbury Park, NJ 07102
(973) 509-5428
Monday to Friday
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Please call in advance
SOUTH JERSEY DROP-OFF
Legislative Office of Majority Leader Gre-
enwald and Assemblywoman Lampitt
1101 Laurel Oak Road, Suite 150
Voorhees, NJ 08043
(856) 435-1247
Monday to Friday
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
NORTH JERSEY DROP-OFF
The RAIN Foundation
168 Park Street
East Orange, NJ 07017
(973) 675-6780
Monday to Friday
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Please call in advance and ask for Mrs.
Shepard or Mrs. Watkins
DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019 . epgn.com
PGN
3
4 NEWS COLUMN
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019

O U R H I S T O R Y, O U R F U T U R E
pgn
Publisher
Mark Segal (ext. 204)
mark@epgn.com
Office Manager/
Distribution
Don Pignolet (ext. 200)
don@epgn.com

Editor
Jess Bryant (ext. 206)
editor@epgn.com

Staff Writers
Larry Nichols (ext. 213)
larry@epgn.com
Timothy Cwiek (ext. 208)
timothy@epgn.com

Photographer
Kelly Burkhardt
burkhardtkelly@gmail.com
DOONESBURY BY GARRY TRUDEAU
Art Director PGN Comic, March 1976

Sean Dorn (ext. 211)

sean@epgn.com

Editorial Designer The first gay character
& Illustrator
Ash Cheshire (ext. 210)
ash@epgn.com
in a comic strip
JASON VILLEMEZ
Advertising Sales PGN Contributor
Joe Bean (ext. 219)
joe@epgn.com In the March 1976 issue of PGN, M. David Stein wrote
Prab Sandhu (ext. 212) about Andy Lippincott, the first openly gay character in a
prab@epgn.com comic strip. A mild-mannered, respectful law school stu-
dent, Lippincott debuted on Jan. 27, 1976, in “Doones-
National Advertising bury,” the iconic series created by American artist Gary
Rivendell Media:
Trudeau. His first appearances in the comic follow his in-
212-242-6863 troduction to fellow student Joanie Caucas, a 30-year-old
feminist who immediately grows smitten with him. The
two chat about legal cases and eventually meet for a dinner
during which Joanie is flirtatious and Andy apprehensive.
A few weeks later, Andy comes clean and tells Joanie that
he is gay.
Phone: 215-625-8501 PGN At the time of Andy’s revelation, the few LGBT charac-
Fax: 215-925-6437 505 S. Fourth St. ters in pop culture were not given fully realized storylines;
E-mail: pgn@epgn.com Philadelphia, PA
Web: www.epgn.com 19147-1506 most were relegated to supporting or comedic roles. There
was no exploration into their sexuality and no discussion
Philadelphia Gay News about how difficult such a life could be in the 1970s. But
is a member of:
The Associated Press
their inclusion was important nonetheless. That gays exist-
Pennsylvania Newspaper ed beyond predatory stereotypes had to be hammered home
Association
Suburban Newspapers to people again and again.
of America M. David Stein’s article in PGN was not really about An-
dy’s coming out, which appeared in over 400 newspapers
The views of PGN are expressed only in the unsigned
“Editorial” col­umn. Opinions expressed in bylined col-
that week. Instead, Stein covered the inevitable backlash.
umns, stories and letters to the editor are those of the Five of those newspapers’ editors banned the comic strip
writer, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of after Andy’s coming out. Dozens more followed suit. Many
PGN. The appearance of names or pictorial represen-
tations in PGN does not necessarily indicate the sexual wrote that their audiences were not ready to read or discuss
orientation of that named or pictured person or persons.
homosexuality. That it was in a comic strip was seen as
Copyright © 1976 - 2019 Copyright(s) in all materials more of a threat because comics were popular. Stein ended
in these pages are either owned or licensed by Masco
Communications Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliate compa- the piece with a call for gay readers to voice their opinion
nies (Philadelphia Gay News, PGN, and its WWW sites.) on “Doonesbury” to its distributor, Universal Press Syn-
All other reproduction, distribution, retransmission, mod-
ification, public display, and public performance of our dicate. As always, public response was paramount in pro-
materials is prohibited without the prior written consent moting and keeping LGBT visibility in the media. Even
of Masco Communications. To obtain such consent, email
pgn@epgn.com. Published by Masco Communications Inc. the filler characters, even the easily forgettable storylines,
© 1976-2019 Masco Communications Inc. ISSN-0742-515 were important.
At first, it seemed like Andy was heading for that same
supporting character obscurity. For the next decade follow-
ing his debut, Trudeau focused on other characters. At that
time, Andy was used only once, for a storyline about Joan-
ie’s career, and then put back into the pencil case. But in the
late ’80s, Trudeau introduced a storyline that made Andy
unforgettable: he had AIDS.
For two weeks in April 1989, the comic strip followed
Joanie and Andy’s reunion in the hospital where Andy was
being treated. Andy coped with his illness with jokes about
morphine cocktails and White Castle hamburgers, some-
thing Joanie found hard to accept. “Andy, how can you
joke?” she asks him one afternoon. He replies, glibly: “How
can you not?”
When Joanie leaves the room, Andy’s doctor explains to
her: “Andy uses humor to soften the rage he feels, and to
help him face the abyss. I encourage it because AIDS care is
about helping people cope, helping them die with dignity.”
Trudeau didn’t just limit the discussion of AIDS to An-
dy’s plight. The storylines, which included a character who
couldn’t even say the word AIDS, drew intense attention
because of a willingness to tackle stereotypes and fears the
public had about the disease. The comic also provided a
much-needed levity for hospital workers and patients who
had seen only sadness. Many AIDS organizations regularly
posted the series on their walls and doors. Even Speaker
of the House Nancy Pelosi, then a regular Congressperson,
chimed in on the storyline, telling the Associated Press in an
Apr. 4, 1989 article that she was surprised it took so long for
Trudeau to broach the AIDS issue. “I wish he had done this
four years ago,” Pelosi said. “Most of what I’ve seen so far
is a little after the fact.”
Andy treated his struggle with dignity, kindness and hu-
mor, and the way he handles himself helps the other charac-
ters, and the comic’s readers understand that AIDS was not
the monster the media and right-wing had purported. When
Andy died, in the May 24, 1990 strip, he went out listening
to a Beach Boys song, achieving a dream of listening to the
record “Pet Sounds” on compact disc.
Andy meant so much to people that the San Francisco
Chronicle ran an obituary for him. He is the only fictional
character to have a panel on the AIDS quilt. He and the les-
sons he taught are worth remembering. n
DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019 . epgn.com
PGN
5

A Visual Guide to the HIV Crisis

SPOTLIGHT ON PHILADELPHIA

1,500, 000 people are living in Philadelphia,

Over 19, 000 of them live with HIV

Number of new
HIV diagnoses: Number of deaths of people with
HIV in Philly, 2017
2018

424
2017
284
495 282 TRANS PEOPLE
ARE LIVING WITH HIV
I N P H I L LY, 2 0 1 7

P E R C E N TAG E O F P E O P L E L I V I N G W I T H H I V
P E R C E N TAG E O F P E O P L E L I V I N G W I T H H I V
B Y R AC E / E T H N I C I T Y
B Y S E X A S S I G N E D AT B I R T H

28% FEMALE 72% MALE 63.9% BLACK 15.4% HISPANIC/LATINX 17.3% WHITE

(Strides are being made to more accurately account for trans, gender- The rate of Black males living with an HIV
nonconforming and nonbinar y people living with HIV*, *PDPH 2018) diagnosis is 3.1 times that of white males.

I N F O G R A P H I C C R E AT E D B Y A S H C H E S H I R E A L L D ATA S O U R C E D F R O M A I D S V U ( 2 0 1 7 ) & P D P H ( 2 0 1 8 )
6 PGN
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019
Allentown LGBT community
center gets grant for 2020 Census
VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH
PGN Contributor
The Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Communi-
ty Center in Allentown received a national
grant from the American Library Associa-
tion (ALA) to support 2020 Census work in
the LGBT community. The LGBT Library at
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Cen-
ter was one of 59 libraries nationwide to re-
ceive a $2,000 Library Census Equity Fund
grant from the American ALA.
The ALA is the foremost national organi-
zation providing resources to inspire library
and information professionals to transform
their communities through essential pro-
grams and services. The ALA awarded the
grants to bolster library services to hard-to-
count communities and help achieve a com-
plete count in the 2020 Census.
Adrian Shanker, Executive Director of
Bradbury-Sullivan Community Center, told
PGN that the Bradbury-Sullivan Center was
“the only LGBT community center to re-
ceive the grant, and the only agency of any
kind to receive the grant in Pennsylvania.”
Shanker said, “Participation in the Census
is critical, especially for underserved popu-
lations like the LGBT community.”
“There are very real fears that LGBT peo-
ple won’t participate in the 2020 Census,”
said Shanker, “Sometimes LGBT people
have concerns about sharing details about
our lives when we are not protected by law.”
Shanker also noted that “mainstream orga-
nizations don’t always know how to find us.”
These are some of the reasons Shanker
said he is “so grateful to the American Li-
brary Association for creating the Library
Census Equity Fund to provide resources
that make it possible for us to outreach to the
LGBT population in our community about
the importance of completing the 2020 Cen-
sus.”
The Library at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT
Community Center includes a collection of
more than 2,300 library materials and reg-
ularly hosts authors for book talks. Brad-
bury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center is
a member of ALA.
With support from ALA’s Library Cen-
sus Equity Fund, The LGBT Library at
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community
Center will host a community forum to
expand awareness and understanding of
census activities for hard-to-count popu-
lations, including LGBT individuals. And
the center will facilitate participation in
the census by opening The Cyber Center
at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community
Center to anyone wishing to complete an
online census form.
Wanda Brown, ALA president, said,
“The efforts of The LGBT Library at Brad-
bury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
will shine a light on all the library workers
across the country who are shouldering ef-
forts to reach and inform their communities
— especially vulnerable and hard-to-count
populations — about the importance of a
full and inclusive count.”
The results of the 2020 Census will affect
communities across the country. More than
$1.5 trillion in federal funds are allocated
each year to state and local governments
based on census data. When residents are
missed in the census, their communities
miss out on needed funding for services
such as libraries, schools, healthcare and
transportation.
Shanker urged “anyone who does not
have internet access to come and use our
Cyber Center” and emphasized the criti-
cal importance of the census to the LGBT
community.
The U.S. Constitution requires a census
of all residents every 10 years. In the 2020
Census, residents will have the choice to
respond online, by phone or by mail. The
U.S. Census Bureau will send mailings to
households prior to Census Day, which is
April 1, 2020.
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Communi-
ty Center provides arts, health, youth and
pride programs to strengthen and support
the LGBT community across the Greater
Lehigh Valley. The Library at community
center received the 2018 Allentown Arts
Ovation Award for Outstanding Achieve-
ment in Literary Arts. n
DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019 . epgn.com
Activist Kay Lahusen celebrates
90th Birthday
MARK SEGAL
PGN publisher
If you’ve seen photographs of the 1965-69
Independence Hall Demonstrations, where
gay men and lesbians marched demanding
equality, chances are that picture was taken
by Kay Lahusen. A prolific activist along with
her partner, Barbara Gittings, Lahusen pho-
tographed many of the early LGBT activists
during their marches and events, including
Frank Kameny, Marty Robinson and Isabel
Miller. She also photographed gay and lesbi-
an couples in moments of tenderness, some-
thing that was not often seen at the time. Her
photograph of Lilli Vincenz was the first full-
face photo of a lesbian on the cover of the
influential lesbian publication “The Ladder.”
For a time in the ’80s, Lahusen had ads in
this very paper when she worked as a real es-
tate agent. In 2007, her and Gittings’ papers
were donated to the New York Public Library.
Several of her photographs were on display at
an NYPL exhibit during Stonewall 50. Lahu-
sen now lives in Kennett Square, Pennsylva-
nia, and she still follows the movement and
politics closely, with TV news on in the back-
ground as she goes about her day. I spoke to
Lahusen by phone about her life, her history
and her birthday.
How does it feel to be 90? I never pay any
attention to birthdays; it’s my friends who
think they’re important. I feel it’s a great time
to be alive. Everything is so interesting with
Mayor Pete and the impeachment. I want to
be around to see what happens. So I’m trying
to take good care of myself but have a good
time too.
What LGBT people in history do you ad-
mire? Oh gosh, so many of them. I’ll start
with my friend Barbara Gittings, my partner
for 46 years. I wrote a book about her and
Frank Kameny, and Jack Nichols, and Troy
Perry, and all the gay activists of a bygone era
that nobody remembers much anymore.
Yes, the old dinosaur club. I’ll also men-
tion you, because you publish the marvelous
Philadelphia Gay News for 45 years. And it
chronicles gay history in Philadelphia, and
that is very important. You helped put us on
the map.
You and Barbara were together a long
time. What made your relationship so
special? She was lots of fun to live with,
and she super dedicated to the cause, so she
brought me along into the cause. That was so
important in my life. She was fun and she was
interesting, and she was smart. Sounds like
you and Jason.
What advice would you give to young
LGBT couples for a healthy relation-
ship? Laugh a lot. Join the gay move-
ment so you’re caught up in something
bigger and more fun than the average per-
son could possibly imagine. Eat a lot of
REGIONAL
7
S A L E S R E P R E S E N TAT I V E AT P G N
Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) currently has immediate opening for advertising
sales position available for an energetic, self-motivated individual with outstanding
communication skills.
Our ideal candidate must have polished sales skills with experience in lead genera-
tion and cold calling, combined with a track record of closing the sale.
Qualifications: * Two years minimum of successful sales experience, former print
and/or advertising sales are a plus * Strong verbal and writing skills * Excellent at
relationship building * Ability to work independently and part of a team * Knowl-
edge of local media market and LGBT community a plus * Computer literacy a
must
Salary/Benefits: Competitive Salary based on your past experience, plus commis-
sion. Our benefits package includes medical and dental insurance, paid holidays,
vacation and a casual work environment.
Qualified individuals interested in applying are encouraged to send their
résumé. to mark@epgn.com
BARBARA GITTINGS
P h o t o b y K a y To b i n L a h u s e n
good food. Have a good dog all the time in
the house, that’s very important.
What did you enjoy the most of all your
years as an activist. Oh, I can’t say any one
thing. I’ve had so many good times. I really
enjoyed the first picket lines when we came
out in public for the first time. It felt really
good to be out in the sunshine. I had a great
time working in the American Library Asso- *PGN is an equal opportunity employer
ciation gay group. We were trying to get more
positive books into libraries, which I think is
terribly important. I published my book about
famous early activists. More recently I had a
book published by NYPL that has many of
my old photos in, and that was very gratify-
NOTICE
ing. To whom it may concern:
So visibility is one of the hallmarks of Notice is hereby given that the City Commissioners, sitting as the County Board
your life? Oh, absolutely. I enjoyed work- of Elections, will begin their weekly meetings on Wednesday, December 11,
ing on “The Ladder.” I tried to put wonderful th
women on the covers. That was very import- 2019 at 11:00 A.M. in the City Commissioners 6 Fl. Hearing Room, Riverview
ant, because before then we only had draw- Place, Columbus Blvd. & Spring Garden St. Meetings will continue every
ings on covers. We went against the Ameri-
can Psychiatric Association and succeeded Wednesday thereafter until further notice.
in removing homosexuality from the men-
AVISO
tal illness allegation. I wasn’t at Stonewall,
but I certainly admired it. I had a lot to say
about it and write about it. I’ve had a terrif-
ic life. I think gay couples, getting back to A quien corresponda:
that question, should get involved, and give
it all they’ve got. It’s so much fun. Don’t you Se avisa que Los Comisionados de la Ciudad en sus funciones como la Junta
agree? Electoral del Condado, comenzaran sus reuniones semanales el 11 de
diciembre de 2019 a las 11:00 A.M. en el 6º piso de Riverview Place en la sala
I couldn’t agree more. What’s life like for
you today? I’m in a retirement home. It’s de audiencia de los Comisionados, Columbus Blvd. & Spring Garden Sts.
very large. We have various dinner tables. The Reuniones continuaran cada miércoles adelantes hasta nuevo aviso.
French-speaking table, the German-speaking
table, the vegetarian table, which is the big-
Lisa M Deeley Anthony Clark
gest, and we have a gay table. We meet once a
Chairwoman, City Commissioners City Commissioner
month, and we’ve had as many as 16 people.
There are more than 16 gay women and men Presidente, Comisionados Municipales Comisionado Municipal
here, but not all of them are ready to make the
announcement and sit at our table. But I think Al Schmidt Kevin A Kelly
that table was a nice little breakthrough at the Vice Chairman, City Commissioners Acting Supervisor of Elections
end of my life. Vicepresidente, Comisionados Municipales Supervisor Interino de Elecciones
So basically, at 90 years old, www.philadelphiavotes.com
you’re still organizing, but page 16
8 PGN
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019
PGN’s top 5 stories
LET'S TALK of the year
LAURA SMYTHE
laura@epgn.com
ABOUT
1. “Pete speaks on
LGBTQ history, historic
campaign”
PrEP, BABY.
Democratic presidential candidate
and out gay man Pete Buttigieg spoke
exclusively with PGN in October about
his campaign. The South Bend, Indiana
mayor surged in the polls recently, join-
ing the ranks of former vice president Joe
Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth
Warren.
One pill. Once a day. Prevents HIV. “There’s a lot more that we need to do
proactively around issues like conversion
therapy, protecting LGBTQ youth, at-
tacking the AIDS epidemic, diplomacy
around human rights, including the way
we think about how we treat refugees,
PrEPdelco.com work for community-based programs,”
Buttigieg said in the October interview.
Chester: 610.872.9101 “There’s so many things that we need to
do that I think each of us has an obliga-
tion to put forward a robust plan and not
Sharon Hill: 610.583.1177 simply make it seem as though we think
that the struggle was won when mar-
riage equality came to the land or that the
Equality Act is all we’ve got to do.”
2. “Pride float honoring
Stonewall activists com-
memorates 50 years”
Mazzoni Center The Greater Philadelphia region ex-
ploded with Pride events this year to
is celebrating commemorate the 50th anniversary of
the Stonewall riots. The 1969 historic
happening kicked off the nation’s gay
Mazzoni rights movement when police raided the
clinic Stonewall Inn, a gay club in New York
City’s Greenwich Village. A 34-foot-long
float outfitted in a rainbow of thousands
Washington of flowers and more than a million gold-
West en fabric eyelashes carried five Stone-
Project
wall-era LGBTQ activists through Phil-
adelphia’s Pride parade: Paul Kuntzler,
years of LGBTQ John James, Randy Wicker, Susan Sil-
verman and Mark Segal. The event was
health and Well-Being
LGBT Health & Well-Being Since 1979
televised for the first time in its 31-year
LGBT HEALTH & WELL-BEING
history by local network 6abc.
“We’re all humans,” Pride attendee
Brittany Howell said. “We’re all the same
people, and it should just continue to be
that way.”
Wellness
3. “2 years of union
negotiations at Maz-
zoni Center ends in
LGBTQ-inclusive bene-
fits”
1348 Bainbridge Street Two years of union negotiations drew
215-563-0652 mazzonicenter.org LGBTQ HEALTH AND WELL BEING to a close for Mazzoni Center staff in
September. Agreed-upon benefits include
paid leave for gender-affirming surgeries,
higher wages and a Labor-Management
Committee to increase collaboration be-
tween staff and leadership and make best
practice recommendations.
“We knew that to provide the care Phil-
adelphia’s LGBTQ community deserves
and maintain the community’s trust in
Mazzoni Center, we needed to have a
voice,” said Jay Alston, technology and
data coordinator at the Mazzoni Center.
“Now that we’ve secured that voice in
our contract, we’re looking forward to
partnering with management to better
provide the quality care our patients and
clients deserve.”
4. “PA to allow gender
designation ‘X’ on driv-
er’s licenses”
The Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation announced in July that it
will offer a gender designation of X on
driver’s licenses beginning in 2020. The
change is especially important because
as of next October Pennsylvanians will
need REAL ID-compliant identification,
which requires a gender designation, to
board domestic commercial flights.
“It helps in every aspect of our lives,”
said Brenda Klitsch, staff attorney at
Mazzoni Center. “Getting a drink. Going
to the doctor. Being stopped by police.
That gender option on that ID card will
benefit everyone who has it and needs it.”
5. “Philadelphia Police
Department issues pro-
gressive trans, nonbinary
policy”
This summer, the Philadelphia Police
Department overhauled its guidelines on
law enforcement interactions with trans-
gender and nonbinary people. The new
directive is touted as one of the most pro-
gressive in the country. It mandates po-
lice to transport and house trans people
in custody separately from other incar-
cerated individuals when possible, and to
allow trans people to choose the gender
of the officer searching them.
“For too long, our transgender and non-
binary siblings have faced humiliating,
hurtful and even violent treatment during
their interactions with law enforcement,”
said Amber Hikes, former executive di-
rector of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT
Affairs. “While this issue is not unique to
Philadelphia as a city, we are committed
to continuing to address this issue head-
on and alongside members of the trans,
nonbinary and gender-nonconforming
communities.” n
DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019 . epgn.com
5 pieces of news
highlighting
the trans
community
LAURA SMYTHE
laura@epgn.com
1. “TransWork,
Philadelphia airport team
up for job fair aimed at
increasing trans employ-
ment”
TransWork, an employment program
developed by the Independence Business
Alliance for trans, nonbinary and gen-
der-nonconforming job seekers and en-
trepreneurs, held its inaugural job fair in
September with the city’s airport. About
30 folks attended the event at William Way
LGBT Community Center. A second job
fair took place in November with partners
from Independence Blue Cross.
“This is like a sanctuary for trans peo-
ple,” said event attendee Vincent Tjia, add-
ing, “You can be any kind of individual
and just come and apply for a job. We’re
just trying to live our life.”
PGN
2. “GALAEI launches visual
campaign celebrating trans
lives”
Queer Latinx social justice organization
GALAEI launched a visual campaign high-
lighting the daily lives of Philadelphia’s trans
and gender-nonconforming residents in honor
of Transgender Awareness Week. The project,
dubbed #TeaAndRoses, follows 12 individu-
als and was the brainchild of GALAEI’s peer-
based, trans-focused initiative Trans Equity
Project.
“Trans people are usually highlighted in
death and are never highlighted during their
time on this earth,” said Valentina Rosario, a
trans woman and the coordinator of Trans Eq-
uity Project. “So we are talking about recog-
nizing them for their everyday lives and their
hobbies; the things that they do on the daily.”
3. “William Way opens new
trans resource center”
William Way LGBT Community Center
opened the Arcila-Adams Trans Resource
Center in November. Named as a tribute to
Philadelphia’s late trans leaders Charlene Ar-
cila and Jaci Adam, the new resource hub pro-
vides services including health care and ther-
apy referrals, job services and help enrolling
in insurance and food assistance programs.
“We felt that at a time with increasing hos-
9
tility from both the federal government and
from other political figures, it was really im-
portant for us as the community center to
Transgender Fellowship Training Program —
among the first of its kind in the United States
— is moving to Thomas Jefferson University
say that we wanted to stand behind our trans
communities and provide the best resources
Hospital. Dr. Kathy Rumer, the fellowship’s
director, is also partnering with Jefferson to
to them,” said Chris Bartlett, William Way ex- open a “multi-disciplinary gender center” that
ecutive director. will serve as a “one-stop shop” for LGBTQ
people and their health care needs in 2020.
4. “Philly’s Trans Wellness Services will include psychiatry, endocrinol-
ogy, preventative care, primary care and voice
Conference shows growth” therapy.
“We could never really get it off the ground
This year’s three-day Philadelphia Trans
at Hahnemann because of the financial issues
Wellness Conference, hosted by Mazzoni that are going on there,” Rumer told PGN.
Center, brought in more than 11,000 attend- “But that was always the plan, and now that
ees, exceeding 2018 numbers. The event we’re in an environment that can support that,
featured more than 200 offerings including we’ll be able to make that happen.” n
workshops, panels, lectures, discussions and
meetups and operated under the theme “trans
joy.”
“PTWC is one of my favorite weekends
of the year,” said Jay Alston, Mazzoni’s
technology and data coordinator. “It feels
like a reunion, and it’s so great getting to see
everyone again.”
5. “New trans-inclusive
LGBTQ medical center
to emerge from pending
Hahnemann University Hos-
pital closure”
In the wake of Hahnemann University Hos-
pital closing due to “financial difficulties,” its
APRIL 7–MAY 3
FORREST THEATRE
PRESENTED BY
TELECHARGE.COM
10 EDITORIAL
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019

EDITORIAL BY JESS BRYANT

LOOKING BACK AND MOVING FORWARD
A year happens weekly at PGN.
Each week stories centering the
LGBTQ community come to
light, and at the end of 52 weeks,
it’s hard to step back and see the
year as a whole. But 2019 had
its milestones, large and small. It
marked the 50th anniversary of
the Stonewall riots and saw the
onset of a presidential run by a
gay candidate. Four states passed
conversion therapy protections.
Mayor Jim Kenney signed a pack-
age of inclusivity bills, proposed
by Helen Gym. Amber Hikes left
the Office of LGBT Affairs for the
ACLU. Mazzoni unionized, the
Gloria Casarez Residence opened
and much else.
This year also held grief. Phil-
adelphia lost our own Tameka
“Michelle” Washington, and the
country lost 22 transgender folks
to violence, most of them trans
women of color. We lost Dawn
Munro, Tony Lombardo, Alicia
Simmons, Ted Faigle, Barbara
Hammer, Barbra Casbar Siper-
stein and many others.
We have made it through three
years under the Trump administra-
tion rolling back our rights, but we
have fought hard to shore up local
protections across the state. We’re
experiencing an impeachment.
We’ve seen victories in federal
courts and fear pending decisions
of the Supreme Court.
This community has shown re-
silience, strength and kindness in
the face of many adversities. Ev-
ery day, I am thankful to be a part
of a community that is so gener-
ous and thoughtful, politically
engaged and passionate. I also
want to be a part of a commu-
nity that moves forward, extends
itself more, continues to connect
and realizes that not all under the
LGBTQ umbrella are faced with
the same challenges.
Let’s look toward the margins of
the marginalized. White cis folks
do not face the same challenges
as trans and nonbinary folks of
color. Sexism plagues women and
many nonbinary folks in our com-
munity. Transmisogyny impacts
trans women very specifically,
pair that with racism, and find
even more barriers to equity. HIV
does not impact all equally either,
men having sex with men and
transwomen still represents those
most highly impacted. We are all
faced with unique challenges, and
it is our job at PGN to report on
each of these individual struggles
as well as those we struggle with
together.
In the new year, I look forward
to listening to and learning from
this community. Whether in cel-
ebration of excellence or mourn-
ing, PGN will continue to deliver
the LGBTQ+ community the
news they deserve. n

CREEP OF THE WEEK BY D’ANNE WITKOWSKI

DONALD TRUMP
This impeachment stuff is stressing
me out. Donald Trump keeps screaming
that this whole thing is very bad for the
country. And he is right! Impeaching a
president IS bad for the country. Duh. Ob-
viously. But even worse for a country is
letting a corrupt and inept man keep lead-
ing it.
Trump has been complaining that the
Democrats have wanted to impeach him
since day one. Again, he’s right. But only
because he gave every signal possible that
he was a corrupt moron in his personal
and business life, which led a lot of peo-
ple to suspect he might be the same bad
person in office. Go figure.
Republicans are tripping over them-
selves to defend this jackass. He is inde-
fensible. Full stop. But they don’t care
about having a leader with a heart or a
brain. Republicans are thrilled that they
have a president willing to do all of the
bad and awful things they’ve always
wanted to do. Take health care away from
people? Check. Roll back environmental
regulations? Check. Discriminate against
LGBTQ people? Check. Stack the court
system with unqualified right-wingers
who will uphold the terrible laws they
pass? Check.
It’s exhausting. I need a nap. Wake me
up after November 2020.
I’m kidding. That’s just what Republi-
cans want people to do. Get overwhelmed
and discouraged and check out. Checking
out is a luxury, and we can’t afford it. We
really can’t.
White Supremacists are running the
fucking show. Everything you care about
is on the line here.
I just watched a clip from Meet the Press
where Dante Chinni interviewed a group
of Republicans in Kent County, Michigan,
about impeachment. Do they care about
it? No. Why? Because it’s boring. Oh how
nice for you white upper-middle-class
boomers. What’s it like to never have to
worry about your civil rights? What’s it
like to stare into the face of white suprem-
acists and yawn? How brave. Thanks for as worthy of a meeting with her.
the focus group. “I don’t see what I could tell him that
People who stand against Trump are he hasn’t already heard, and I just think it
accused of being hysterical. These same would be a waste of time, really,” she said.
people who believed that Hillary Clinton Thunberg is inspiring. Trump is embar-
was running a child sex ring in the base- rassing. His reelection campaign tweeted
ment of a Washington, D.C. pizza restau- out the Time magazine cover with Trump’s
rant have no problem with Trump literally head Photoshopped onto Thunberg’s body.
taking children away from their immigrant I mean, FFS.
or asylum-seeking parents and literally Now it’s up to the Senate, where Major-
losing them in the system with no way for ity Leader Mitch McConnell has already
parents to ever see their babies again. It’s said he fully intends to rig the process for
not hysterical to think that is diabolical. Trump. Cool, cool. wrong side. The bad side.
It is hysterical, however, to think that There is a right side and a wrong side of Don’t be a baddy. We already have
the impeachment is a “witch hunt” and history. When it comes to Trump you can enough of those. n
some kind of Democratic coup. To think either be someone who welcomed dicta-
that this man is a good president. Trump is torship or fought against it. Or you could D’Anne Witkowski is a poet, writer and
mean, dumb and petty. just do nothing. Shrug your shoulders and comedian living in Michigan with her wife
How petty? Time magazine named cli- call the impending end of American de- and son. She has been writing about LGBT
mate-change activist Greta Thunberg as mocracy a snooze fest. Though you should politics for over a decade. Follow her on
Person of the Year. know, that puts you with the folks on the Twitter @MamaDWitkowski.
Trump’s response? “So ridic-
ulous,” he tweeted. “Greta must
work on her Anger Management
problem, then go to a good old
fashioned movie with a friend!
Chill Greta, Chill!”
Thunberg is, as you may well
know, a 16-year-old who is fight-
ing like hell to get the godd--n
grownups of this world to act
on climate change so that she
and other children might have a
chance at a future. But Trump,
who doesn’t believe in global
warming, thinks she should just
“chill.”
In case you needed more evi-
dence that Thunberg is amazing,
in response to Trump’s tweet, she
changed her Twitter bio to read,
“A teenager working on her an-
ger management problem. Cur-
rently chilling and watching a
good old-fashioned movie with a
friend.”
If you caught Thunberg on “The
Ellen DeGeneres Show” then you
know that she doesn’t see Trump
DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019 . epgn.com
OPINION
11

MARK MY WORDS WITH MARK SEGAL

Taking stock of life during Stonewall 50
Like many, as the year
ends, I usually take a look
at what kind of year it has
been. For me, 2019 was the
year of Stonewall 50 and
celebrating 50 years as an
activist for change. This year
turned out to be the busiest
of my life, and thanks to
you, it gave me an opportunity to take stock of
not only the year, but my life as well.
As I wrote in my memoir, “And Then I
Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equal-
ity” my life’s motto was from a fictional char-
acter from a novel, a film and later on the
Broadway stage: Auntie Mame. She was flam-
boyant and outrageous. Her motto was, “Life
is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starv-
ing to death.” Followed by “Live, Live, Live.”
After 68 years of fight, I now know that
I’ve fulfilled that goal.
The title of my memoir kept changing
before publication. The one I wanted was
“It’s Not Me, but the Circus around Me.”
Then there was “Pushy Jew Faggot.” Both
of them my publisher thought were over the
top. There was also “From Stonewall to the
White House,” which was literally true but
just didn’t have spirit. But what the titles
showed, combined, was a life full.
This year, 2019, and all the spotlight that
came my way was surprising to me. But
when you have media from around the world
wanting to interview you about Stonewall,
LGBT affordable housing, fighting the TV
networks, creating community where there
was none before, LGBT publishing, and pi-
oneering legislation and lobbying, you real-
we
wanna
know
ize how important all those things were. I
also came to realize that I was among the
last of that first out generation who didn’t
just say they were at the first night of Stone- What are your
wall but were there the second night and holiday plans?
every day since. This year made me feel a
sense of accomplishment that was difficult
to accept. The reality is that I and a few oth-
ers are a lifeline to that history, and when A holiday run
we are gone only our memoirs and the re- (and drink) with
cords we leave behind will be able to tell @phillyfr, an
that story. It is a privilege to be able to tell LGBTQ+ running
our story now. group.
So while this year was one of the busiest,
it also was one of the happiest, since every-
thing I’ve fought for in the last 50 years is a
reality or becoming a reality. Want proof?
That’s easy for me because I can say: I’m a
very happily married man. n
Family

OP-ED BY VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH

Democratic debate shows why we need queer media

Most weeks, someone asks
me on social media why I
“waste my time” writing for the
queer press. I write predomi-
nantly for the mainstream press,
but I have never stopped writ-
ing for the queer press because
the stories of our LGBTQ lives
must be told, and there is no one
else to tell those stories but us.
We’re losing the queer press —
PGN and Bay Area Reporter are
anomalies as independent news-
papers that have never ceased
publication since the 1970s.
There were more closings of
queer publications in 2019 than
in any other year, and, accord-
ing to an investigative piece last
week by Maya Kosoff, 3,385
American journalists lost their
jobs in the past 12 months. A
dozen I know are LGBTQ.
Yet we need LGBTQ voices
telling our stories more than
ever. After the Dec. 19 Demo-
cratic debate, an LGBTQ ex-
change— and how rudimentary
it was — was not a “hot take-
away” on any mainstream media
list.
Pete Buttigieg, the first out
gay man to run for president,
repeated a line he often says in
debates and at rallies. “The Su-
preme Court is very personal for
me, because my household, my
marriage exists by the grace of a
single vote on that body.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT),
was asked by moderator Yami-
che Alcindor, “At least 22 trans-
gender people were killed in the
United States this year, most
of them transgender women of
color. Each of you has said you
would push for the passage of
the Equality Act, a comprehen-
sive LGBTQ civil rights bill.
But if elected, what more would
you do to stop violence against
transgender people?”
Sanders replied, “We need
moral leadership in the White
House. We need a president
who will do everything humanly
possible to end all forms of dis-
crimination against the trans-
gender community, against the
African-American community,
against the Latino community,
and against all minorities in this
country.”
He said, “But above and be-
yond providing the moral lead-
ership of trying to bring our peo-
ple together, what we also need
for the transgender community
is to make sure that health care is
available to every person in this
country, regardless of their sex-
ual orientation or their needs.”
He meant gender identifica-
tion, but no one corrected him.
Sanders added, “And that
is why I strongly support and
have helped lead the effort for
a Medicare for all single-payer
program, which will provide
comprehensive health care to all
people, including certainly the
transgender community.”
Not an answer to the question
asked.
Alcindor asked Sen. Elizabeth
Warren (D-MA) the same ques-
tion. Warren has been one of the
most outspoken candidates on
LGBTQ issues and had read a
list of names of murdered trans
women at a town hall in Septem-
ber.
Warren said, “The transgender
community has been marginal-
ized in every way possible. And
one thing that the president of the
United States can do is lift up at-
tention, lift up their voices, lift up
their lives.”
Warren then made this prom-
ise: “I will go to the Rose Garden
once every year to read the names
of transgender women, of people
of color, who have been killed
in the past year. I will make sure
that we read their names so that
as a nation, we are forced to ad-
dress the particular vulnerability
on homelessness. I will change
the rules now that put people in
prison based on their birth sex
identification rather than their
current identification. I will do
everything I can to make sure that
we are an America that leaves no
one behind.”
When Warren’s time was up, so
was the discussion. None of the
other five candidates were asked
to respond. There were no ques-
tions about the 17 percent uptick
in hate crimes against LGBTQ
people revealed by the FBI’s an-
nual crime report last month that
I reported on here, nor the global
epidemic of corrective rape of les-
bians that has been reported with
alarm by WHO. Nothing about
the war the Trump administration
is waging on LGBTQ people — I
have reported more than a dozen
stories on that this year. Nor
Donning my gay
about the rise in LGBTQ suicides
apparels and run-
among our youth and elderly, re-
ning with the Philly
vealed in a report last month.
Frontrunners.
No mention when discuss-
ing immigration of the two trans
women I reported had died in ICE
custody, nor LGBTQ folks being
denied asylum and sent back to
countries that will jail and execute
them. To eat as much as
On Twitter, trans women like humanly possible.
HRC’s Charlotte Clymer revealed,
“Elizabeth Warren’s team reached
out to me eight months ago to ask
about transgender rights. I’m not
special. They did this with a LOT
of trans folks. We found this out
by talking to each other and real- To read “Call Me
izing the full extent of their out- By Your Name” and
reach. She knows trans issues.” imagine I’m some-
Clymer suggested that “War- place warm.
ren’s team focus on violence
against trans women of color,
particularly Black trans women,
and suggested a few names. ‘Oh,
we talked to them already.’ And
they had. Incredibly thorough and
committed to learning.” Work
This is the only place you will
read this story about the debate
— or any of the stories I men-
tioned not covered by the debate.
If a queer reporter weren’t writing
this for the queer press, you would
never know about it. As Stonewall
50 draws to a close, LGBTQ peo-
ple remain marginal and niche to
mainstream media. We know si- follow us on instagram
to participate in our
lence = death and LGBTQ lives social polls and questions:
matter. Unless and until main- @phillygaynews
stream media “gets” that fact, the
queer press isn’t just an auxiliary
to the mainstream; it’s essential
reporting on our lives. n
12 N E W S A N A LY S I S Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019

Pete Buttigieg’s historic candidacy rounds out 2019

Victoria A. Brownworth As the LGBTQ community celebrated 101,860 in 2019, South Bend is the fourth in debates and on the campaign trail. He has
PGN Contributor the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Re- largest city in Indiana. He was the youngest also spoken movingly about how he orga-
bellion, a married gay man from the Mid- mayor ever elected in a city of over 100,000. nized a mayoral blood donation drive and
"If you want to talk about the capacity to west running for president sounded fantas- Buttigieg previously worked on the pres- was barred from donating because of the
win, try putting together a coalition to bring tical at the beginning of 2019. As the year idential campaigns of John Kerry in 2004 ban on gay men donating blood.
you back to office with 80 percent of the ends, his candidacy is a statement about and Barack Obama in 2007. Obama has cit- Politically, Buttigieg is the antithesis of
vote as a gay dude in Mike Pence's Indiana." broader acceptance for LGBTQ people — ed him as one of the "important talents" in President Trump: A voracious reader who
That statement on electability by Pete more LGBTQ people were elected in 2019 the 2020 race. speaks several languages, a fierce defender
Buttigieg was one of climate science
of the big applause and proponent of
lines of the night at immediate climate
the Democratic de- action and a staunch
bate in Los Ange- supporter of wom-
les on Dec. 19. At en's reproductive
the last debate of rights; he has fluen-
the year, the South cy in issues foreign
Bend, Indiana may- and domestic.
or traded barbs with While Trump has
Sen. Amy Klobu- been waging war on
char (D-MN). The women, Buttigieg
two candidates are has spoken out in
among the 15 re- support of them. Af-
maining candidates ter Alabama banned
vying for the critical abortion services
Iowa caucus vote in the state, Butti-
Feb. 3 — the first gieg said that it was
votes to be cast in "ignoring science,
the 2020 Democratic criminalizing abor-
primary. As the two tion and punishing
native Midwestern- women."
ers in the race, Butt- Buttigieg's low
igieg and Klobuchar polling with Black
have an edge in the voters and his some-
neighborhood. times tone-deaf
But it is "Mayor comments on racial
Pete" who is polling issues has been a
first in Iowa. "The problem for the can-
gay dude from Mike didate and signaled
Pence's Indiana" has as such in the Black
beaten convention- press. In the Novem-
al wisdom about ber debate, he said
straight America not during a discourse
being ready for an on race, "I do not
openly gay candi- have the experience
date. He has been on of ever being dis-
a steady trajectory criminated against
into the top-tier of P E T E B U T T I G I E G AT R E A D I N G TERMINAL MARKET
because of the color
the Democratic pri- of my skin, but I do
mary since Septem- have the experience
ber, superseding a surprising number of very than ever — as well as for Buttigieg him- In 2015, Buttigieg met junior-high teach- of feeling like a stranger in my own country
strong competitors who have since with- self, who has also raised more money for er Chasten Glezman. The two became en- — turning on the news and seeing my own
drawn, including early favorites Sen. Ka- his campaign than frontrunner and former gaged in December 2017 and were married rights coming up for debate."
mala Harris (D-CA) and former Rep. Beto Vice President Joe Biden. in June 2018. Chasten uses Buttigieg's sur- Many thought he was comparing ho-
O'Rourke (D-TX). The Indiana native checks a lot of box- name and has fast become a social media mophobia to racism, which engendered
Buttigieg now polls in the top four nation- es for Democratic voters. At 37, he is the maven and star in his own right as he cam- pushback from both Harris and Sen. Cory
ally and first in that critical early state next youngest candidate, 40 years younger than paigns with his husband. Booker (D-NY).
door. It is not outside the realm of possibility Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). (As The significance of Buttigieg's candidacy Yet despite some missteps and poor de-
that Buttigieg could be the Democratic nom- a junior-high student, he won a national cannot be overstated. The barrier he's bro- bates, Buttigieg's presence in the race is
inee or tapped to be the vice-presidential award for an essay about Sanders.) He's a ken by being the first out gay man to run historical, and the impact — whatever the
choice of another candidate. Harvard graduate and a Rhodes scholar. He for president is a game-changer. Americans outcome in 2020 — lasting.
Buttigieg didn't have a good debate in Los served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. seeing a gay man kissing his spouse — As Buttigieg said in the November de-
Angeles — he was a target of other candi- Navy Reserve from 2009 to 2017 and served another man — on the national stage is a bate, "You're looking at someone who,
dates and at times sounded defensive, partic- in Afghanistan in 2014. He was awarded massive moment of visibility for LGBTQ as a young man growing up, wondered if
ularly about his big-money fundraisers and the Joint Service Commendation Medal people. something deep inside of him meant that he
his own experience as a politician compared and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award. He Yet Buttigieg being on a debate stage would forever be an outsider, would never
with other candidates. Still, the fact that achieved the rank of lieutenant, and some where LGBTQ rights are being debated — wear the uniform, never know love. And
Buttigieg is not only still in the race, but has of his service was under Don't Ask, Don't when it's his lived experience — exempli- now you are looking at that same young
risen into fourth place nationally is one of Tell, which was repealed at the end of 2011. fies how much more work needs to be done man — a veteran, a mayor, happily mar-
the biggest national LGBTQ news stories of Buttigieg has been mayor of South Bend for LGBTQ people. A supporter of the ried, asking for your vote for President of
the year. since Jan. 1, 2012. With a population of Equality Act, Buttigieg has spoken about it the United States." n
DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019 . epgn.com
Finding family,
creating connections
DANA RUDOLPH
PGN Contributor
The end-of-year holiday season is hard for
me now that my parents have passed. Thanks-
giving had always been my Jewish family of
origin’s time to gather. My brother and I have
continued to celebrate Thanksgiving with our
immediate families and his wife’s parents, but
the absence of our parents makes the occasion
bittersweet. I miss them, too, at Hanukkah,
when we always lit a menorah and exchanged
gifts. I’m finding comfort this year, however,
in a new project to uncover and preserve our
family history.
Our adventure began about a month before
Thanksgiving, when my brother connected
with a long-lost cousin via a genetic-testing
service. The cousin shared some documents
related to relatives who had immigrated from
Eastern Europe, and that allowed us for the
first time to identify the specific town where
they had lived — information we had thought
was lost forever. We even discovered that not
all of our relatives had left their homeland —
some stayed in the town and were killed in the
Holocaust — a sadly common story for Jews
of the era, but one that we had never before
linked directly with our family.
All of this set my brother and me off on
a quest to discover more. Both of us have
graduate degrees in history; the scent of ge-
nealogy was like catnip to kittens. We opened
an account on Ancestry.com and began con-
structing our tree, searching through census
data, immigration papers and military re-
cords. While I fervently wished our parents
were still here to contribute their knowledge
and share in the exploration, I was thrilled at
the idea of preserving some family history for
my son.
Our work is still in progress, but we’ve
been able to identify the previously un-
known names of some direct ancestors in the
19th century; discover the varied jobs that a
great-grandfather held, from toymaker to real
estate dealer; and connected with some liv-
ing cousins across the country and around the
world. It turns out, too, that I’m not the only
rainbow sheep in the family.
My spouse got in on the excitement, adding
connections from her side of the family — an
easier venture in some ways, since they have
been in the U.S. for a few more generations
and have several sprawling Catholic branch-
es. We are leaving it up to our son whether to
ever add his anonymous donor or to pursue
donor siblings or other donor connections.
And yes, although the defaults on Ancestry.
com are for “Mother” and “Father,” the soft-
ware easily allows one to indicate same-sex
couples. (At least one other genealogy site I
know of does not do so.) Users can also indi-
cate biological, adopted, step and foster chil-
dren, and designate a person as a “Friend,”
which can be useful in some chosen-family
COLUMN
13
MOMBIAN
situations. The software could still, however,
be more inclusive of donors, surrogates, fam-
ilies with more than two parents and other
“nontraditional” family types. It also doesn’t
allow one to specify genders other than
“male” and “female.” One hopeful sign is that
physician and genealogist Stewart Blandón
Traiman, according to his blog, gave a presen-
tation on LGBTQ genealogy at Ancestry.com
in August, where, Traiman says, CEO Margo
Georgiadis told him that LGBTQ issues were
a “high priority.” While we await changes,
dropping a gentle note with suggestions to
mediarelations@ancestry.com couldn’t hurt.
We should remember, too, that a family
tree is just a bare structure. The stories that
weave and whisper among its branches are
what give it its meaning.
But that’s an imperfect analogy. A tree is
not just branches, but also roots. Exploring
my family history makes me feel grounded,
connected to ancestors’ lives and to the lands PROUD KIMMEL CENTER
and communities where they lived. In what- PRESENTED BY
SEASON SPONSOR
ever way we can capture our family stories
— through written diaries, photographs, vid- J A N U A R Y 7- 1 9
eos or everyday objects that have become
family treasures — we bring a sense of this K I M M E LC E N T E R . O R G OFFICIAL AIRLINE
rootedness both to ourselves and to our
children.
I recognize, though, that my family is
lucky. Both my spouse’s relatives and mine
have always been supportive of our relation-
ship; there are no branches of our family tree
that we want to prune. Not all LGBTQ folks
can say the same. Regardless, you can cap-
ture your family history in a way that works
for you, even if that means focusing on cho-
sen family. Share the stories you want to tell,
good or bad — and preserve the memories
that you newly create, so your children will
have them in their turn.
For me, my ancestors offer their unique ex-
periences while also exemplifying the broad
narrative of early 20th-century Jewish immi-
gration, giving my historical exploration a
contemporary relevance as our country still
grapples with anti-Semitism and anti-immi-
grant policies. Placing my own queer little
family into this broader context also reminds
me how connected queer families are to the
intersecting web of history.
It is cathartic to be investigating my ances-
try in the season when my thoughts turn nat-
urally to family and to those no longer with
us. I hope our family stories and connections
will be a gift to my son that he will carry
throughout his life and pass on to his own
children, should he have any.
However you choose to honor and cele-
brate your family this season — and howev-
er you define that family — may it be a time
of joy and love.
Dana Rudolph is the founder and publish-
er of Mombian (mombian.com), a GLAAD
Media Award-winning blog and resource di-
rectory for LGBTQ parents. n
14 PGN
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019
MAZZONNI HOLIDAY HELP
from page 1
sages of joy and happiness and the way
things should be. We knew that a lot of
our folks did not experience that. When
we first started the guide, our intention
was to really give folks some tips to help
cope with some of the negative messages
they might be receiving or just perceive
about the holiday season.”
The section on ways of coping with
LGBTQ-specific holiday stress includes
guidance on how to come out to one’s
family, ways to set boundaries in the
event that interactions become tense and
suggestions for arranging backup plans if
necessary. The team at Mazzoni tends to
hear the most about handling familial re-
lationships during the holidays.
“I think that, especially the last couple
years, we’ve experienced a very fractured
family structure in terms of political sup-
port,” Morrissey said. “It’s not just about
coming out, but like, ‘Hey, I know uncle
so-and-so’s going to be there, and I know
he’s a right-wing supporter, and it’s re-
ally hard to be in his presence, so here are
some things I can do.’ And just offering
that person permission to step away, take
a breath, leave the room. That has really
helped people.”
Over time, the team at the Mazzoni
Center started expanding the guide to in-
corporate more local resources.
“We also offer information about
events, ways people can stay connected,
not only through the holiday season but
ongoing,” Morrissey said.
The guide includes a section on recov-
ery support systems like Alcoholics Anon-
ymous, Overeaters Anonymous, drop-in
support groups, as well as LGBTQ-fo-
cused programs.
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One such LGBTQ resource is Philadel-
phia Freedom Roundup (PFR), whose ob-
jective is to help queer folks enhance their
mental, physical and spiritual ways of be-
ing by using the 12-step regimen similar
to that of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
PFR provides recovery events year-round.
Mazzoni Center’s LGBTQ SMART
Recovery Group (Self-Management and
Recovery Training) is another such sup-
port system — a drop-in support group
for queer people either in recovery or
considering starting the recovery pro-
cess. The guide includes info about other
SMART recovery meetings.
The William Way LGBT Community
Center offers a variety of year-round sup-
port groups and counseling services.
“One thing of note is that we have
the latest AA meeting in the city — it’s
at 11:30 p.m. — every single night here
at William Way,” said Rachel Winsberg,
the Community Engagement Specialist at
William Way.
Those in need can access free peer
counseling from 6 to 9 p.m., Monday
through Friday, either by appointment
or walk-in. William Way also provides
a trans support group called TransWay,
co-lead by trans women Elizabeth Wil-
liams and Kendall Stephens, Thursdays
at 7 p.m., where anyone who identifies as
transgender or nonbinary is welcome.
Going forward, Morrissey hopes the Hol-
iday Wellness Guide will continue to grow
and values collaboration as well as outside
feedback.
“It’s a team effort to update our guide,”
she said. “We all put our heads together
and things that we see might be useful,
but we also like to hear what other ideas
people have. I think it has always been
an evolving, kind of live document, and I
hope that it continues to do that.” n
DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019 . epgn.com
COMCAST LAWSUIT
from page 1
at Comcast has he been discriminated against
or been the subject of wrongful treatment.
Comcast has a longstanding commitment to
the LGBTQ community and has been widely
recognized for its inclusive culture,” the filing
asserts.
The filing also notes that Fennell has ad-
vanced at Comcast throughout the years.
“[Fennell] has worked at Comcast for more
than 18 years,” the filing states. “The company
has promoted [Fennell] five times (twice in
2002, and in 2006, 2011, and 2015), including
his promotion to senior vice president more
than four years ago, one of the highest execu-
tive positions in Comcast Cable. In a company
of approximately 87,000 employees, there are
currently 166 senior vice presidents, including
[Fennell]. Comcast has supported [Fennell]
for many years and provided a platform for
him to have a positive influence on LGBTQ
initiatives both inside the company and in the
communities that Comcast serves.”
Additionally, the filing reiterates that Com-
cast never mistreated Fennell. “Defendants
deny any discrimination or retaliation against
[Fennell] based upon any protected trait or
characteristic, including [Fennell’s] sexual ori-
entation or gender, and maintain that [Fennell]
has been -- and continues to be -- treated fairly
by Comcast.”
The filing concludes by stating that “Com-
cast requests that judgment be entered in its fa-
vor and against [Fennell] with respect to each
claim in the complaint, that the complaint be
dismissed in its entirety with prejudice, and
that Comcast be awarded reasonable costs,
PGN
15
expenses and attorneys’ fees, and such other
relief as the court may deem just and proper.” JEFFREY E. GOLDMAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW
Fennell’s lawsuit alleges that throughout his SPECIALIZING IN PARTNERSHIP AND EMPLOYMENT LAW
career, he received unequal pay and benefits
due to antigay bias and gender stereotyping. Proven track record of recovering millions of dollars for wrongfully treated employees!*
Fennel complained about the alleged mis- Experience litigating:
treatment on multiple occasions, to no avail. • Partnership & business disputes
Instead, he was pressured to act more mascu- • Non-competes
line, rather than “flamboyant,” according to the
• Executive compensation
lawsuit.
When Fennell asked to be paid commensu- • Employment discrimination
rate with his heterosexual, gender-conform- • Real Estate Litigation
ing senior vice president peers, a human rela-
tions manager told him that Comcast’s senior Jeffrey E. Goldman, Esq. Also handle:
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with the Philadelphia Commission on Human
Relations but alleges that he was retaliated
against for doing so by being excluded from
key employee meetings, given an increased
workload and pressured to transfer out of the
Philadelphia headquarters, according to the
lawsuit.
In September 2019, Fennell was subjected Repairs, Renovations and Remodeling
to increased criticism regarding his manage-
ment style and subsequently took a medical (215) 467-3335
leave of absence, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount Pa. HIC #026545
in damages along with reasonable attorneys’
fees. Phila. Lic. #17895
Fennell couldn’t be reached for comment. A
spokesperson for Comcast referred a reporter
“Our”
to an earlier statement issued by Comcast
when Fennell’s lawsuit was filed. That state-
Family Plumber
ment maintains that Comcast never mistreated
Fennell and that Comcast has supported his
for over 30 years
LGBTQ initiatives for many years. n
16 PGN
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019

ACTIVIST KAY LAHUSEN
from page 7
in a retirement community. Absolutely.
Barbara and I always dreamed that someday
there would be a gay retirement community.
Well this place is by no means all gay, but
we’re working on it.
What’s a typical day like for you? I like to
get up early. I have breakfast at eight. Then I
get some medications. Then I go to Sit And
Fight, where we exercise while we sit. Then I
have lunch. Today was liverwurst, my favor-
ite. Then after that, I make some phone calls,
and this is one of them. And then I take a nap
from two to four. Then I get up and watch
television. I have to watch a lot of TV news.
I’m keenly interested in politics and what’s
going to happen in our presidential election,
what’s going to happen to our gay candidate,
Mayor Pete. I have dinner. Sometimes I go
to happy hour, an hour of wine and cheese.
Then I finish dinner, and then I get the news
on again.
Who is your favorite newscaster? I like
the PBS NewsHour, then I switch over to
Chris Matthews. I enjoy him. Sometimes I
watch Rachel Maddow. Aside from news, I
also like to watch gay movies if they turn up,
also Masterpiece Theater.
What books are you reading right now?
“We Are Everywhere.” It has wonderful pic-
tures, and I think it’s a wonderful contribution
to the movement.
You and I come from a time when no pol-
itician would even speak to us. We now
have mayors, governors, senators, even a
presidential candidate working with us.
Does that change surprise you? No, not
really. I saw it start up slowly. I was work-
ing on writing and photographing a New York
newspaper, it was called “Gay News.” They
sent me on an assignment to talk a politician,
one of the very first willing to be interviewed,
and I didn’t know what to ask him. I was
tongue tied, and sort of intimidated, but I
quickly got with the program. I went to the
village independent democrats, Bella Abzug
was there, and Mayor Koch was there, and
I stood up and asked ‘What are you going
to do about the problems of gay people in
NYC?’ and got into it with them.
A lot of people don’t know Bella Abzug
introduced the first nondiscrimination
legislation in congress in 1974. Well I
know they were enlightened early on, and I
like to think I started some of that.
You certainly did. As far as we’ve come
all these years, what is the biggest sur-
prise to you of our movement? The le-
galization of gay marriage, which I think is
fabulous, just fabulous. I was once asked,
“What was the most important turn of events
in the gay movement?” and I said gay mar-
riage. Others say different things. Some say
the first picket lines, some say going after the
federal government to legalize civil rights
legislation. Stonewall was very important.
If you could have one wish for the up-
coming year, what would you want? Oh,
gosh, what a question. I would like to see
the Democrats come into power in the next
administration. I’d like to see more gay can-
didates elected. Mayor Pete is running and
doing very well. I don’t know if he can make
it. We have a nice mayor of Chicago, Lori
Lightfoot. I certainly admire her for taking
on the problems in Chicago. I’d like to see
another breakthrough in San Francisco in
terms of politicians running things.
This is your 90th birthday. When we
get to your 100th birthday in 10 years,
what do you expect to have been accom-
plished? I don’t even think that far ahead.
At 90, you think about tomorrow. I just hope
that we have good work behind us on cli-
mate change. As for gay issues, we should
have a firm legalization of civil rights.
Anything else you want to say to folks
reading? Join the movement. It can be
frustrating and irritating, and it can be fun.
Gay rights isn’t all marching in parades.
There’s a lot of drudgery behind the scenes.
A lot of trying to draft various articles and
statements, a lot of calling on politicians.
Sometimes it is hard work. Trying to roll
back prejudice and discrimination is a job,
but I still say, you can have a lot of fun if
you do it. n

Wedding Services Directory Food and Drink Directory

First Presbyterian Church of Lansdowne

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lansdownepresbyterianchurch.com/contact
DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019 . epgn.com
STONEWALL 50
from page 1
able to share it with my spouse of 40 years!”
Broidy co-created the very first pride parade,
called the Christopher Street Liberation Day
March, which occurred in June of 1970 and
had several thousand participants. Like Broi-
dy, everyone in the 2019 Gay Liberation Front
contingent played a part in the movement that
began with a spark and ignited around the
world.
GLF members were grand marshals of
the parade, a title they shared with Monica
Helms, the creator of the transgender flag,
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, who
co-founded UK Black Pride,
The Trevor Project and the
cast of the FX television series
“Pose.” Those from GLF were
among the first of 695 contin-
gents to march in the largest-ev-
er pride parade in America. For
12 hours, onlookers watched
marching bands, politicians, big
banks, religious groups, tourism
agencies, skincare brands, candy
conglomerates, queer motorcy-
cle clubs, healthcare companies,
civil rights groups and every
other type of organization walk
the city in honor of the rebel-
lion — and the people — that
jumpstarted the entire equality
movement. They all walked, in a
sense, to honor groups like Gay
Liberation Front.
GLF came together in the
weeks following the Stonewall
Rebellion as a means of capi-
talizing on the newfound em-
powerment and visibility the
event had spurred. Members met
at churches and the Alternate
U. center on West 14th Street.
They organized marches, wrote
newsletters and hosted fund-
raiser dances all the while trying to under-
stand, to make real, the possibilities of what
a gay community could be. They came from
all parts of the country with different points
of view — the latter sometimes a cause for
tension in their consensus-run meetings. But
overall, the group was a family. Many lived
together and helped each other emotionally
and financially. They understood the strength
in solidarity. They wanted equal rights, basic
respect, to be treated with decency.
They wanted those things for others, too.
They supported and marched with the Black
Panthers, the same with the Young Lords and
the women’s and anti-war movements. Most
of them came of age in the civil rights era and
brought with them lessons learned from pac-
ifists and radicals alike. They understood, as
has been shown throughout history, that they
were greater together than they were apart.
Although the fight for equality was a seri-
ous business, it was a joyful one too. Lifelong
friendships were made. Birthdays were cele-
brated, movie marathons attended, late-night
conversations had on the stoops of Chris-
topher Street brownstones. They were, as
you’d imagine, reminiscent of any group of
the young and young-at-heart. They jammed
PGN
to popular music of the era like the Beatles
and the Supremes. They supported each oth-
er’s art. They watched out for each other. And,
like the headstrong members of bands they
idolized, they ultimately went their separate
ways.
That GLF New York disbanded relatively
early in the struggle for gay civil rights meant
that their history was ceded largely to the less
radical, more politically correct organizations
that came up after them. But although the
group ceased activity in 1973, its members
continued to rush forward. Michael Lavery
co-founded Lambda Legal. Perry Brass was
one of the founders of the Gay Men’s Health
Project Clinic. Rita Mae Brown and Barbara
Love were original members of the Lavender
Menace. Gay Liberation Front was part-think
tank, part-university and part-community hub
that fostered a family of like-minded people
who decided to change the world.
For the entire month of June, people were
reminded of that and much more. On what
seemed like every hour of every day, GLF
members were on TV, at events, and in print
telling the story of Stonewall and the years
that followed.
“I think this summer was just the start of
people beginning to look seriously at our his-
tory,” said Mark Segal, an early member of
GLF and publisher of the PGN. “Mainstream
media wanted to know more about the con-
nection between Stonewall and the first gay
pride. We made people realize that the first
year after the riots was primarily GLF re-
aligning the whole community, making it in-
tersectional and making it diversified. That’s
what we did back then, and that’s what I hope
people took away from all the media and
events of Stonewall 50.”
The Thursday before the parade, members
of GLF held a standing-room-only panel dis-
cussion at the LGBT Community Center on
13th Street. The event was a stark contrast to
the corporate-sponsored concerts at Pier 97
(dubbed “Pride Island”) or the glitzy opening
ceremony at Brooklyn’s Barclay Center. In
the early evening, elders, young people, fam-
ilies and a film crew packed into the nonde-
script, third-floor auditorium, the same space
where funerals have been held for fellow pi-
oneers, many of whom were GLF members
themselves.
The panelists spoke about their work with
gay immigrants, how they handled police,
their experiences in the aftermath of Stone-
wall. They talked about the 1970 Snake Pit
incident, in which police raided the bar and
one person, fearing deportation, jumped out
a window and was impaled on a fence. These
were the real stories of Stonewall direct from
those that lived them. For 90 minutes, they
gave a history lesson available no place else.
“It was great that there was such a diversi-
ty of ages in the audience,” said GLF mem-
ber John Knoebel, who told the crowd about
his meeting with Black Panther leader Huey
Newton. “There were people who’d been
with us 50 years ago, but there were also a
great many young people who seemed to be
soaking it up like a sponge. There’s a segment
of today’s LGBTQ youth that really wants to
learn their history and feel that they don’t get
it in their schools.”
Passing on the history of Stonewall was an
important part of the 50th-anniversary cele-
brations. One of the lesser-known events that
occurred during Pride week was an intergen-
erational gathering between members of GLF
and students from across the country. The two
groups met in a classroom and shared sto-
ries about their lives. The teenagers learned
about the group Radicalesbians; the pioneers
learned acronyms like TERF (trans-exclu-
sionary radical feminist). The teenagers asked
the pioneers about heroes like Marsha P.
17
Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, about what it was
like to live in a time they knew only second-
hand. The pioneers were eager to know how
young queer people define themselves today.
Both sides came away from the discussion
with mutual respect and an appreciation for
the history still being made.
Some members of GLF were at the first
night of riots on June 28, 1969; some joined
the second, third and fourth nights. But it’s
the work that they did as a group in the weeks
and months that followed, holding protests
and dances, providing medical alerts and legal
advice, leafleting on the street, that took the
momentum of Stonewall and ensured that it
wouldn’t be another flash in the
pan protest, another night of rage
that subsided by morning.
GLF ultimately disbanded
because the group splintered
off into factions with separate
priorities. Fifty years later, that
forge-your-own-path mentality
presented itself again. On Pride
Day, some members chose to
forgo being grand marshals in
the official parade (organized by
the nonprofit Heritage of Pride)
and participate in the alterna-
tive Queer Liberation March,
which used the same route as
the first pride march, starting at
the Stonewall Inn and ending at
Central Park. The march, creat-
ed by the Reclaim Pride Coali-
tion as a grassroots effort free
of corporate floats and police,
culminated in a rally reminis-
cent of the 1970s, with speakers
including Larry Kramer, Masha
Gessen, and Martha Shelley.
Shelley, one of the founders of
GLF, addressed a similarly ener-
gized crowd 50 years ago at the
culmination of a July 1969 pro-
test march. She and activist Mar-
ty Robinson stood on the Chris-
topher Park water fountain, across the street
from the Stonewall, and spoke to 400 people
“who on that day had shown the courage to
appear as openly gay in the sunshine instead
of hiding their faces.”
In 2019, the crowd of 45-thousand in Cen-
tral Park numbered far greater than the 400 at
Christopher Park, a testament to the cultural
and political shift spurred by the early activ-
ists. Shelley shared with them some of the
successful strategies that GLF used to make
those advances happen.
“I just hoped that what I had to say would
reach some of them, be remembered and act-
ed upon when they got home — to continue
the fight and to make alliances with other pro-
gressive groups.”
Cities across the world commemorated the
50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Ber-
lin, Taipei, Tel Aviv. But it’s fitting that the
largest occurred in New York, where it began.
Five million visitors packed the city. All week
long people made pilgrimages to the Stone-
wall, now a national historic monument and
feature of school field trips, hoping to catch
some of the verve that circled the air so long
ago, to feel the joy that seeped
into the veins of those who page 18
ESS DIRECTORY
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Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27-JANUARY 2, 2019
STONEWALL 50
from page 17
took a stand. By the time the parade
kicked off on Sunday, the crowd —
and the people they cheered — felt
the gravity of the moment.
Mark Horn walked the route with
his fellow Gay Liberation Front
members, holding one side of the
banner as he has done in many New
York pride parades. He marveled at
how much participation has grown
from the first march in 1970. Walk-
ing in those first pride parades
meant seeing many familiar faces,
people who had the courage back
then to “come out of the closets and
into the streets.” Today, with mil-
lions marching and in the crowd,
it’s more difficult to spot people
you recognize. This is especially
true for early activists like Horn,
who endured the death of many in
the ’80s and ’90s.
“As I walked with my GLF
friends, I was both happy and sad.
I felt the loss of so many friends
and lovers to the HIV crisis. But
I was buoyed by the crowd. The
entire route, when people saw
our sign, the applause got louder,
and you could hear people calling
out ‘Thank you!’ over and over. I
marched with a broken heart that
was filled with the gratitude and
love of the crowd.”
Members of Gay Liberation
Front, and all activists from that
time period, are growing older.
Their numbers are dwindling. It’s
an unavoidable fact. Jerry Hoose,
who organized GLF’s reunion for
the 40th anniversary of Stone-
wall, passed away in 2015. Same
with Sidney Abbott, who worked
with the National Organization for
Women to establish the NOW Task
Force on Sexuality and Lesbianism.
• 3 Meals Per Day Angela Douglas, Arthur Evans,
• Maintenance-free Living Bertha Harris, all gone. The abili-
ty to paint a full, contextual picture
• Beautiful Gardens and
of what Stonewall was, what GLF
Courtyards was, and what the movement was,
• Private Parking is rapidly diminishing. This 50th
Anniversary year, with all the sto-
8301 Roosevelt Blvd, ries recounted and all the people
honored, showed an incredibly
Philadelphia, PA 19152
wide, though ultimately incomplete
swath of that history.
Near the end of the parade,
when the GLF contingent ap-
rev. dr. Nadine Rosechild Sullivan, ph.d.
proached the Stonewall, they
stopped to take a photo in front of
where it all began, the place where
Spiritual Counseling they took the rage of an enough-is-
enough moment and changed the
drsullivan@rosechild.org
pgn
world. Police tried to usher them
215.704.4264 along, commanding them to keep
www.rosechild.org walking. The parade had many
more groups to go, after all. But
Spirituality • Sexuality • Relationships • Self-Esteem they stood their ground and soaked
it all in. And what they said to the
officers recalls that night in June
1969: This is our place, and we’re
not going anywhere. n
 Arts & Culture PERSONA: PAGE 29

Q PUZZLE : PA G E 2 9 FILM : PA G E 2 4 HOROSCOPES : PA G E 2 3 EVENTS : PA G E 2 0 SCENE IN PHILLY : PA G E 2 1 pgn

F A M I LY P O R T R A I T Ella Stevens and Whimsy Mark-Ockerbloom: Our future is in good hands PAG E 2 5

Out POPS music director’s new program is a labor of love

TODD ELLISON Photo by Bachrach.Photo

“WHAT I FOUND IS THAT IF THERE’S A PERSONAL CONNECTION TO THE MUSIC

THAT IS CHOSEN, IT IS EASIER TO SPEAK ABOUT IT.”

GARY M. KRAMER
PGN Contributor
Todd Ellison, the out gay music direc-
tor of the Philly POPS, will be conduct-
ing “Hamlisch: With Love,” Jan. 17-20
at Verizon Hall. The show is a tribute to
Ellison’s mentor, who he described in a
recent phone interview as being some-
one “Instrumental in my life — no pun
intended.”
Ellison majored in piano in college,
studying classical music, but he claimed,
“I’d always knew I’d do Broadway mu-
sic.” Moving to New York after college,
Ellison began playing shows as a pianist
and worked his way up to become an as-
sistant director and then a conductor.
He was the musical director for the
2000 Broadway show, “The Wild Par-
ty,” starring Mandy Patinkin, Eartha Kitt
and Toni Collette. The musical ran for
only two months, but it was nominated
for seven Tony Awards. It also paved the
way for Ellison to work on “42nd Street,”
“An American in Paris” and “Spamalot,”
among other productions.
Ellison is enjoying his current tenure as
musical director and principal conductor
of the Philly POPS, which began July 1,
2019. The 2019-2020 season consists of
seven concerts a year plus Christmas, and
Ellison will conduct five of the shows.
Selecting the music is a group effort, and
he enjoys the process.
He acknowledged, “What I found is
that if there’s a personal connection to the
music that is chosen, it is easier to speak
about it. If a singer performs ‘Our Love Is
Here to Stay,’ and they’ve never been in
love, it’s a dud. But if their heart is broken,
audiences will be so much more moved.
It makes it deeper, a better concert. In my
POPS Christmastime concerts, I wanted
to figure out a way to bring the audience
into it, so they were not being sung at, but
participating.”
The draw of the POPS for both Elli-
son and audiences is the opportunity to
be bathed in a wall of glorious sound. “I
have a 65-piece orchestra at my disposal
with 44 strings and a brass section play-
ing at you. I feel lucky being surrounded
by wonderful music. That doesn’t happen
anymore on Broadway.”
He observed, “Broadway, when I start-
ed out, the shows had orchestras of 24
and 26 people. And I did ‘An American in
Paris’ with 19 in the pit. I did a mini-ver-
sion of ‘La Cage’ that had 8, and they
are now turning into 5-piece rock band
groups. That didn’t appeal to me.”
Ellison developed his appreciation for
Broadway and show tunes as a kid. He
joined the Columbia Record and Tape
Club, where members got 13 albums for a
penny. After selecting the Moody Blues,
the Carpenters, and Elton John, he found
a soundtrack to “No, No, Nanette.” He
chose it because, he admitted, “It had a
racy cover.”
He continued, “When it came, I put on
the overture, and I got goosebumps. To
this day, when I hear the overture, it puts
me in a great mood. Knowing your style
and saying in your overture: ‘This is what
you’re getting: nothing but fabulosity!’ I
started immersing myself in the Broad-
way canon.”
The lifelong engagement has paid off
handsomely. Ellison has worked with the
grandson and daughter of Richard Rodg-
ers and Oscar Hammerstein and has con-
ducted 17 Broadway shows and is pres-
ently working on two more.
He also worked with gay singer-song-
writer Barry Manilow on his musical,
“Harmony.” He effused, “I learned a lot
working with him. You pick up things
from everyone you work with. It was
great to work with one of my idols. I also
got to work with Elton John, which took
gay to a place you couldn’t believe. Ev-
erything was over the top.”
But it is Hamlisch whom Ellison ad-
mires above all others. “He is the Ger-
shwin of his generation. He wrote songs
that are timeless.” Ellison credited Ham-
lisch with pushing him into POPS.
To thank his mentor, he has Ashley
Brown, who played “Mary Poppins” on
Broadway, singing Hamlisch songs from
the classic, “The Way We Were,” to “No
More,” from the musical “The Goodbye
Girl.” In the January show, Ellison also
promised music from Hamlisch’s movie
scores from “The Sting” and “Sophie’s
Choice,” as well as a suite from the film
“The Informant!” and Hamlisch’s score
from “The Nutty Professor.”
He added, “I’ll tell stories
about his life and my inter-
page 28
20
T H E AT E R & A R T S
DAVE CHAPPELLE
The comedian performs 7 and 10 p.m.
Dec. 31 at The Met, 858 N. Broad St.;
info@TheMetPhilly.com.
DESIGNS FOR DIFFERENT FUTURES
Philadelphia Museum of Art presents
an exhibition exploring visionary and
sometimes controversial designs that
promise to transform how we live, eat,
heal, travel and even love, in any num-
ber of possible futures, through March 8,
26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-
8100.
DISNEY ON ICE PRESENTS ROAD TRIP
ADVENTURES
Disney characters come to life on ice,
Dec. 27-28 at Wells Fargo Center, 3601
S. Broad St.; 215-336-3600.
DISNEY’S FANTASIA LIVE IN CONCERT
The classic animated film is screened
and the score performed live by The
Philadelphia Orchestra, Jan. 3-5 at Kim-
mel’s Verizon Hall, 300 S. Broad St.;
215-893-1999.
ELF: THE MUSICAL
Media Theatre Company presents the
stage adaptation of the holiday comedy
film, through Jan. 12, 104 E. State St.,
Media; 610-891-0100.
HERBERT FERBER: FORM INTO SPACE
Philadelphia Museum of Art presents
an exhibition featuring sculptures and
related drawings that Herbert Ferber
(1906-91) created during the 1950s —
the artist’s most creative period, through
Jan. 5, 26th Street and the Parkway;
215-763-8100.
KOGEI: ART CRAFT JAPAN
Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an
exhibition celebrating Japanese kogei —
one-of-a-kind, handcrafted objects made
with traditional techniques and natural
materials, through summer 2020, 26th
Street and the Parkway; 215-763-8100.
MADE BY HAND: CONTEMPORARY KO-
REAN CRAFT
Philadelphia Museum of Art presents an
exhibition where artists find inspiration
in Korea’s acclaimed tradition of hand-
made objects and add their own visual
language to the rich mix of techniques,
materials and form, through Jan. 12,
26th Street and the Parkway; 215-763-
8100.
OFF THE WALL: AMERICAN ART TO
WEAR
Philadelphia Museum of Art presents
an exhibition of works by mixed-media
artists exploring nontraditional materi-
als and methods to create adventurous,
deeply imaginative works, through May
17, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway;
215-763-8100.
NOTICES: Send notices at least one week in advance to: Out & About Listings, PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 fax: 215-925-6437 or e-mail: listings@epgn.com. Notices cannot be taken over the phone.
E N T E R TA I N M E N T
THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY: LGBTQ
POLITICS AND THE RADICAL LEFT,
1969-1999
William Way Community Center pres-
ents an exhibit telling the hidden history
of LGBTQ politics and the radical left in
the three decades following Stonewall,
through Dec. 27, 1315 Spruce St.; 215-
732-2220.
SHREK: THE MUSICAL
Walnut Street Theatre presents the stage
adaptation of the hit animated film about
an ogre on a quest to rescue a princess,
through Jan. 5, 825 Walnut St.; 215-574-
3550.
THIS IS THE WEEK THAT IS
1812 Productions presents the annual po-
litical satire stage show, through Jan. 5 at
Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey
Place; 215-592-9560.
A VERY DRAG DIVA CHRISTMAS BRUNCH
Mimi Imfurst and special guests get fes-
tive for the holidays, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec.
28 at Punch Line Philly, 33 E. Laurel St.;
215-606-6555.
WEEDING OUT THE STONED
Comedians perform while “medicated,” 8
p.m. Dec. 27 at Good Good Comedy The-
ater, 215 N. 11th St.; https://goodgood-
comedy.com.
MUSIC
ARTHUR THOMAS & THE FUNKTORIUM
The group performs the music of Parlia-
ment Funkadelic, 8 p.m. Dec. 27 at World
Café Live, 3025 Walnut St.; 215-222-
1400.
GOV’T MULE
The alternative rock band performs 8 p.m.
Dec. 27 at The Met, 858 N. Broad St.;in-
fo@TheMetPhilly.com.
GRETA VAN FLEET
The rock band performs Dec. 29-30 at The
Met, 858 N. Broad St.; info@TheMet-
Philly.com.
THE STRUTS
The rock band performs 8 p.m. Dec. 29
at The Fillmore Philadelphia. 29 E. Allen
St.; 215-309-0150.
SLAMBOVIAN CIRCUS OF DREAMS
The psychedelic rock group performs 8
p.m. Dec. 30 at World Café Live, 3025
Walnut St.; 215-222-1400.
THE JESUS LIZARD
The alternative rock band performs 8:30
p.m. Dec. 30 at Union Transfer, 1026
Spring Garden St.; 215-232-2100.
CLUTCH
The hard rock band performs 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 31 at Union Transfer, 1026 Spring
Garden St.; 215-232-2100.
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020
A ‘TAYLOR’
-MADE NEW
YEAR’S:
Classic R&B singer, Taylor
Dayne, rings in the New Year
belting out her hits when she
performs 10:30 p.m. Dec.
31 at Resorts Casino, 1133
Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ. For
more information or tickets,
call 609-340-6300.
The New Year kicks off with pow-
er when R&B singers Monica and
Ashanti, along with special guests
perform at the Philly stop on the
Femme It Forward Tour, 8 p.m. Jan.
3 at The Met, 858 N. Broad St. For
more information or tickets, e-mail
info@TheMetPhilly.com.
FEMME FORCE
events
NIGHTLIFE
PROBLEMATIC: A HOLIDAY DIVA
SPECTACULAR
Miss Troy impersonates Mariah Carey,
and Rita Brujeria impersonates Ariana
Grande in this drag show, 8 p.m. Dec.
27 at L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St.; 215-
592-0656.
AMATEUR DRAG ATTACK: WINTER
WONDERLAND EDITION
The drag show ramps up for the hol-
idays with Big Momma Vanessa Ster-
ling and Anthony Michael performing,
9 p.m. Dec. 27 at Tabu, 254 S. 12th St.;
215-964-9675.
NEW QUEERS EVE
Philly’s biggest queer New Year’s Eve
party features burlesque, drag and ap-
pearances by Miss Jessa Jordan, 10
p.m. Dec. 31 at The Fillmore Philadel-
phia. 29 E. Allen St.; 215-309-0150.
NEW YEAR’S EVE DRAG & BUR-
LESQUE EXTRAVAGANZA
Philly drag and burlesque performers
ring in the New Year, 10 p.m. Dec. 31
at L’Etage, 624 S. Sixth St.; 215-592-
0656.
NEW YEAR’S FUNKIN’ EVE
Ill Doots and DJ Mat Pat perform, 10
p.m. Dec. 31 at Fringe Arts, 140 N. Co-
lumbus Blvd.; 215-413-1318.
O U T TA T O W N
LOTUS LAND
The Rush tribute band performs 8 p.m.
Dec. 27-28 at Sellersville Theater, 24
W. Temple Ave.; 215-257-5808.
THE APARTMENT
The classic rom-com starring Jack
Lemmon film is screened 1:30 p.m.
Dec. 29 at The Colonial Theatre, 227
Bridge St., Phoenixville; 610-917-
1228.
LIVE WIRE
The AC/DC tribute band performs 8
p.m. Dec. 29 at Sellersville Theater, 24
W. Temple Ave.; 215-257-5808.
KOOL & THE GANG
The funk group performs 9:30 p.m.
Dec. 31 at Resorts Casino, 1133 Board-
walk, Atlantic City, NJ; 609340-6300.
BRUCE IN THE USA
The Bruce Springsteen tribute band
performs 8 p.m. Jan. 2 at Sellersville
Theater, 24 W. Temple Ave.; 215-257-
5808.
HOUSE
The Japanese horror film is screened,
9:45 p.m. Jan. 3 at The Colonial The-
atre, 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville;
610-917-1228.
DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020 . epgn.com
S C E N E I N P H I L LY
21

THE MANY ‘SCENES’ CAPTURED

IN 2019
PHOTOS BY KELLY BURKHARDT
22 TELEVISION
Best
QUEER EYE
Netflix
LGBTQ
TV of
2019
POSE
FX
VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH
PGN Contributor
It was a historic year for LGBTQ peo-
ple on TV, with a record number of out
lesbian, gay and trans actors, along with
several out nonbinary actors.
Out gay actor Billy Porter, who plays
the gay ballroom emcee Pray Tell in
“Pose,” made Emmy history by becom-
ing the first openly gay Black man to win
lead actor in a drama category.
Ellen DeGeneres, who made history
as the first out gay actor on TV, coming
out on her sitcom “Ellen” in 1997, made
history in nonscripted TV in 2019. “The
THE L WORD: GENERATION Q
SHOWTIME Ellen DeGeneres Show” has now been on
TV since 2003, with a record 16 seasons
of the Emmy-winning daytime talk show.
The show was renewed in 2019 for three
more seasons — into 2022. Ellen has
now won 31 Emmys for her work.
GLAAD’s “Where We Are on TV”
report on LGBTQ representation in
scripted TV shows noted that there are
more LGBTQ characters on TV than ever
before in 2019.
The best-scripted LGBTQ series of the
year were mostly on cable and streaming
services. Series featuring gay and lesbian
storylines and characters and those that
highlighted racially diverse LGBTQ
characters included, “Will & Grace,”
“Modern Family,” “Black Lightning,”
TRINKETS “Supergirl,” “This Is Us,” “Batwoman,”
Netflix “Stumptown,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and
“How to Get Away with Murder.”
“This Is Us” had a compelling sto-
ryline of the daughter of a central charac-
ter coming out in junior high and what it
is to navigate that territory. “Black Light-
ning” has the only Black lesbian super-
hero in “Thunder,” and “Supergirl” has
the first trans superhero in Nia/Dreamer.
“Batwoman” stars Ruby Rose, whose
superhero character is an out lesbian.
“Will & Grace” remained one of the
most reliably funny and gay series on TV,
as did “Modern Family.” Both series —
now in their final seasons — have been
groundbreaking TV, credited with bring-
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020
ing gay characters in normative familial
settings to straight America and changing
perceptions in the process.
In 2019, the very best series with
LGBTQ content is “Pose.” While there
are a few straight characters in the show,
those are peripheral to the main sto-
rylines, which are solely about the lives
of gay, lesbian and trans people. This
makes watching “Pose” a remarkable
experience — we don’t wait, poised for
the queer scenes because all scenes are
queer.
The second season of “Pose” featured
the most out trans actors in history.
Reviews of season two were mixed, and
some of the major players from season
one did not return. But the series is rivet-
ing and the performances extraordinary.
It is at the top of our list.
The second season focused less on ball
culture and more on the AIDS pandem-
ic of the early 1990s. Performances by
Porter, as well as trans actresses Mj
Rodriquez, Indya Moore, Dominique
Jackson and Anjelica Ross were superb.
Charlene Woodward and Sandra Bern-
hard also co-starred.
“Pose” has been renewed for a third
season, coming in 2020. The first two
seasons are available on Netflix, You-
Tube and Amazon Prime. Expect to cry
throughout the entire first season and
much of season two, because this drama
goes to the heart of who we are.
The most vaunted new LGBTQ series
of 2019 debuted Dec. 8 on Showtime,
and it is definitely one of the years most
anticipated. “The L Word: Generation Q”
is more than a reboot of the iconic series
that ran for six seasons from 2004 to
2009. “Gen Q” brings back three of the
most pivotal original series stars — Bet-
te, Alice and Shane — and introduces a
plethora of new ones.
The excitement over the series is un-
derstandable. Like “Pose,” this is a show
about queer people — it’s the obverse of
standard TV. The new cast is expansive
and diverse. In addition to a plethora
of lesbians, queer and bisexual women,
trans folks are also in this newly fash-
ioned “L-Word.”
Set 10 years after the events of “The
L Word,” “Gen Q” follows an ensemble
cast of friends, the majority of whom are
lesbian women. The series relocates from
its original setting of West Hollywood, to
the lesbian gayborhood of Silver Lake,
Los Angeles. The original series is avail-
able on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. Let’s
continue to watch as the series address-
es the transphobia, biphobia and other
issues that plagued its first run.
“Killing Eve” was one of the year’s
best crime series while also having the
best bisexual/lesbian coupling in TV
history — albeit one (if not both) of
those characters being a sociopathic in-
ternational assassin. The Emmy-winning
series is set in and around the U.K. and
Europe and features an MI6 operative
— the eponymous Eve — chasing down
Villanelle, the sexy assassin. Together
they burn up the screen.
The dialogue is sharp, incisive and
witty. The series creator and writer is
Emmy-winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge,
and performances are pitch-perfect; the
sexual tension between the two main
characters is electric. Both seasons are
available on Hulu and Amazon. Season
three debuts in 2020.
“Gentleman Jack,” “The Miniaturist”
and “Dickinson” were also among the
year’s best queer TV. These period pieces
each highlighted, through their lesbian
and gay main characters, the perils of
being queer in centuries past. With vivid
characters — both fictional and historical
— energetic performances, unique sets
and fabulous costumes, the show gives
a stunning overview of periods past and
what it meant to navigate societies that
considered lesbians and gay men anath-
ema.
“Euphoria” was possibly the most orig-
inal series of the year addressing LGBTQ
characters and their stories. The HBO
series follows a group of high-school
students through their experiences of sex,
drugs, friendships, love and trauma. The
central relationship between a Black girl,
who is a recovering addict and a trans
girl, who is new to their high school,
is breathtakingly real and profoundly
moving.
“Euphoria” delves deep into the frac-
tured world of 2019 adolescence, with
cyberbullying a core destructive force.
Vivid, believable characterizations and
storylines made this one of the year’s
most memorable series.
The Netflix original series “Trinkets”
charts the lives of three teenage girls who
meet in a court-mandated Shoplifters
Anonymous group and form a bond. One
is trying to come out; another is in an
abusive relationship; the third is hiding a
series of deep secrets from her friends.
This series is strong, and the lesbian
and queer characters are real. The prem-
ise is quirky yet works seamlessly, and
the characters stay with you long after
the last episode. Season two debuts in
2020.
“The Bisexual” is funny, poignant,
beautifully crafted and deeply provoc-
ative as it details the life of a bisexual
woman who exits her decade-long
lesbian relationship to traverse her own
bisexual heart. Available on Hulu and
Amazon.
And for maximum queer and cathartic
crying, last but not least of the year’s best
LGBTQ offerings is the reality series
“Queer Eye,” where the Fab 5 do more
than makeovers. The Fab 5 remind us
that we can all be re-made in our own
image, not society’s version of us, and
being authentic may feel scary as any-
thing, but it is the only way to live our
lives freely and fully. All four seasons are
available on Netflix.
Let’s hope 2020 holds up to the break-
throughs made this year. n
DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020 . epgn.com
BY INEZ CARVALHO
ARIES
(Mar. 21 - Apr. 20)
As the leader of the astrological
wheel, you are no stranger to tak-
ing the first step. The beginning
of 2020 will be lighter than last
year, and that’s not just the fes-
tive optimism talking. In 2019,
you faced some heavy planetary vibes. It might not have
been fun, but it was productive. You arrived at a new
level of awareness, sensitivity and compassion. Mars —
your ruling planet — enters the warm and earnest sign
of Sagittarius at the end of the week reminding you to
use your powers for good and not evil.
TA U R U S
(Apr. 21 - May 21)
A strange sense of peace will
wash over you soon. It may
happen in rush hour traffic, or
during a quiet 3 a.m. snowfall,
or while elbow-deep in dirty
dishwater, but it happens all the
same. The healing process that began on the new moon
last week is beginning to take root as it enters its first-
half stage in the ultra spiritual sign of Pisces, and it
brings you closer to a wordless truth. It is a waste of
energy to constantly worry when the next misfortune
will befall you. Staying present is one of life’s greatest
challenges, but you can do it.
GEMINI
(May 22 - Jun. 21)
Lately people have been enter-
ing your life for reasons that are
just now becoming apparent.
You’ve seen the good and bad
in them. Some were guardian
angels, some passed you on the
street and some have become a permanent fixture or
close friend. As a Gemini, you absorb outside influ-
ence on a molecular level, right down to the movies
you watch and the music you play. The company you
keep will either drain you or lift you up. Take a good
look around. In 2020, your progress will shine and
your efforts will show.
CANCER
(Jun. 22 - Jul. 22)
The half-moon in watery an-
cient Pisces will be shifting into
the fiery self-starting sign of
Aries right as New Year’s Day
commences, and the timing is
fortuitous. The shift is almost
tangible. This year’s beginning will feel so much dif-
ferent than the start of last year. The tone is brighter,
less focused on a sense of solemn duty and more on
intuitive daily living, radical self-healing and outside-
the-box relationships. You are coming into your own
and learning what works for you.
ASTROLOGY
LEO
(Jul. 23 - Aug. 22)
2020’s overall mood will suit you
better, as it won’t have the intense
overtone that 2019 did, even at its
start. That’s not to say that a lot
of valuable things didn’t occur
last year; you were able to grow
spiritually. Now you are gravitating toward people and
things that make you feel grounded and validated. You
are working past surface-level interactions as your sole
form of socializing. As the year progresses, you will
know who you want in your life, and why, with greater
confidence than ever.
VIRGO
(Aug. 23 - Sep. 23)
The moon will spend two days
— Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 — in the
house of your sister sign, Pisces.
This time can bring great clarity
or great confusion depending on
how you choose to view things.
As an Earth sign, your natural state can be quite rigid
and dogmatic. Water is a great teacher of the strength
in flexibility and what it means to be more pragmatic,
especially at such a nostalgic and emotional time of the
season.
LIBRA
(Sep. 24 - Oct. 23)
When the moon shifts into Aries
on the Jan. 2 and further into the
new year, you may find yourself
wishing to vanquish your inner
people-pleaser for good. It’s just
not serving you anymore — think
“New year, new you.” Use that old saying as a way to move
forward. You are fed up with saying yes and playing nice
when you don’t mean it, so it’s time to change your ways.
SCORPIO
(Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)
I know it’s in poor taste to talk about
money, but your woes in that depart-
ment are about to clear up. You are
already seeing a turn for the better in
the more practical areas of your life.
This year is less about putting your
nose to the grindstone and more about saying yes to whatever
the universe throws at you. Take time to breathe a sigh of relief,
Scorpio! You deserve it.
23
S A G I T TA R I U S
(Nov. 23 - Dec. 21)
You are in an uncharacteristi-
cally quiet headspace, without
the usual fanfare, and it’s for
good reason. You are in the
midst of reinventing yourself,
and that takes time and energy.
Someone may try to fill your head up with doubts,
and it’s very important that you don’t let them get to
you. They are trying to hold you back for their own
self-interest. Freedom is your natural state, don’t for-
get that.
CAPRICORN
(Dec. 22 - Jan. 20)
Things are not what they seem.
Don’t go looking for bad inten-
tions where there aren’t any.
This will be your main obsta-
cle this week. You have an old
habit of being wary and suspi-
cious of those around you, and all it does is bring you
down. Of course it’s good to have your wits about
you, but this habit has been hindering you from mak-
ing beneficial connections. A brighter outlook will
simplify your path. Mercury enters your sign at the
closing of the month, which will help you in this
journey, though it will be challenging at times.
AQUARIUS
(Jan. 21 - Feb. 19)
Things get funky this week as
you go into the new year, and
it’s certainly not a bad thing.
You are feeling more and more
like the person you want to be,
and maybe some people don’t
get it but that’s OK. The interaction between Jupi-
ter and Uranus at the midpoint of December sets the
wheels in motion for goal setting and envisioning
how you want your life to look. Everything has been
coming to you naturally, so you haven’t even noticed
how far you’ve come already.
PISCES
(Feb. 20 - Mar. 20)
The moon in Pisces has you
swimming in your own little re-
ality that only you know how to
navigate. What are you holding
on to that is holding you back?
This is the question you must
ask yourself. It can feel a bit perilous to reflect on, but
you are no stranger to tackling the tough, gritty topics
in life. The new year gives you the space to spread your
wings, and a favorable breeze carries you.
24
There were some great, several good — or
very good — and a handful of bad – or very
bad — LGBT films that screened in Phila-
delphia in 2019. Here is a recap of the year’s
best and worst as well as a handful of titles
worth watching.
BEST:
“End of the Century.” Out gay
writer/director Lucio Castro’s abso-
lutely hypnotic romance opens with
Ocho (Juan Barberini) and Javi (out
gay Ramon Pujol) meeting for sex, but
it shifts gears and becomes something
transcendent.
“Pain and Glory” Out gay writer/
director Pedro Almodóvar’s outstand-
ing film — about a filmmaker (Anto-
nio Banderas) in physical and emo-
tional pain — is absolutely exquisite.
Using flashbacks, vibrant colors, and
layering truth, memory and fantasy,
“Pain and Glory” becomes a remark-
able and affecting film about love,
loss, and creative expression. It is also
buoyed by Banderas’ exceptional, Os-
car-worthy performance.
“Booksmart” This absolutely hi-
larious high school comedy features
dozens of belly laughs as Molly
(Beanie Feldstein) the valedictorian
and her BFF Amy (Kaitlyn Dever), a
lesbian, try to make up for all the fun
they missed in one night. (Amy’s un-
expected sexual encounter is price-
lessly funny). Full of clever word-
play and sight gags, the film is never
smug or smarmy, which is why it
works so well.
“Sauvage” A fantastic but brutal
drama about Léo (Félix Maritaud),
a down-on-his-luck gay male pros-
titute. Writer and director Camille
Vidal-Naquet shoots the cruising
area scenes like a nature documen-
tary, but “Sauvage/Wild” is a raw
and immersive experience thanks to
Maritaud’s full-bodied performance
as the frequently naked Léo, who is
seen in devastating situations. View-
ers may actually feel as wrecked as
the character by the end of this stun-
ning film.
“Vision Portraits” Out gay writ-
er-director Rodney Evans’ extraor-
dinary documentary juxtaposes his
experiences as a visually-impaired
filmmaker with three other low-vi-
sion/blind artists: out gay photogra-
pher John Dugdale, dancer Kayla Hamil-
ton and writer Ryan Knighton. This film
investigates how and why blindness is not
limiting for these artists, but more impor-
tantly, “Vision Portraits” never gives in to
the “super-crip” trope that insists its sub-
jects are inspirational or that Evans is mak-
ing a hagiography. It provides new ways
of seeing.
FILM
WORTH A LOOK:
“This Is Not Berlin” Yes, writer and
director Hari Sama’s semi-autobiograph-
ical drama is yet another film about two
teenagers exploring their sexuality and
struggling to find their place in the world.
A very
queer
year in
film
BY GARY M. KRAMER
PGN Contributor
But this drama, set in 1986 Mexico City,
seduces viewers with its depiction of the
underground club scene where its an-
drogynous lead Carlos (Xabiani Ponce de
León), and his bestie, Gera (José Antonio
Toledano) discover themselves. This film
is an affectionate portrait of youth — gay
and straight — as they share heady expe-
riences of sex, drugs and punk music.
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020
“Wild Nights with Emily” Lesbian
writer and director Madeleine Olnek’s com-
edy, about Emily Dickinson (Molly Shannon)
and her lover and sister-in-law, Susan (Su-
san Ziegler) in 1860 Amherst, is deliberately
more mild than wild. But it is funny, feminist
revisionism.
“Halston” Out gay filmmaker Frédéric
Tcheng’s documentary on the gay fashion icon
features nearly 2000 striking photographs, as
well as film clips and footage of his life, work
and clothes that nimbly depict the designer’s
experiences and hubris.
“Rocketman” Director Dexter Fletcher’s
jukebox musical biopic of Elton John, gener-
ates goosebumps as John (Taron Edgerton) and
his lyricist Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell), find their
groove, but the film’s rehab-flashback narrative
device is hokey — even if it allows for the film
to showcase lavish musical numbers, fabulous
costumes and several of John’s greatest hits. An
enjoyable high-energy film of this larger-than-
life performer.
“Papi Chulo” Out gay filmmaker
John Butler’s poignant comedy-drama,
“Papi Chulo,” is about a lonely Los An-
geles weatherman’s (Matt Bomer) bro-
mance with Ernesto (Alejandro Patiño),
a day laborer he hires. This modest film
sneaks up on viewers, becoming heartfelt
and affecting thanks to Bomer’s commit-
ted performance.
WORST:
“Mapplethorpe” A missed opportu-
nity. If only Ondi Timoner’s ambitious
biopic was as stimulating as the titular
artist’s work. But this dud never provokes
or creates much emotion. It just fails to
capture its subject’s essence.
“Giant Little Ones” This over-
stuffed drama has Ballas (Darren Mann)
claiming his best friend Franky (Josh
Wiggins) performed oral sex on him.
This leads to various discussions of ho-
mophobia and acceptance, but out gay
Canadian writer and director Keith Behr-
man gets preachy and contrived, tackling
important issues of queer sexuality in a
clumsy manner that dilutes the impact of
its messaging.
“Aniara” This imaginative Swedish
sci-fi film, “Aniara,” considers big phil-
osophical themes of life, death and birth,
as well as love and sex, and anxiety and
despair. It also depicts Mimaroben’s
(Emelie Jonsson) attraction to Isagel (Bi-
anca Cruzeiro), a comely pilot. But the
drama in “Aniara” is just too low-key and
passive to generate much interest, and the
characters are mostly ciphers.
“Vita & Virginia” This handsome but
disappointing romantic drama artfully,
if emptily, depicts the true-life relation-
ship between writers Vita Sackville-West
(Gemma Arterton) and Virginia Woolf
(Elizabeth Debicki). Taking an interest-
ing tale of queer literary history, film-
maker Chanya Button teases out the spirit
of the women’s relationship, but not its
heart.
“Before You Know It” Rachel (di-
rector Hannah Pearl Utt) is a lesbian who
manages her family’s theater. After her date
with Celia (Ayden Mayeri) ends early, and her
father (Mandy Patinkin) suddenly dies, Rachel
and her irresponsible sister Jackie (co-writer Jen
Tullock) meet the mother (Judith Light) they
never knew. Alas, much of this forced sitcom-y
film is unfunny, and the belabored characters
and situations wear down audiences as much as
they do Rachel. n
DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020 . epgn.com
Ella Stevens and Whimsy Mark-Ockerbloom: Our future is in good hands
SUZI NASH
PGN Contributor
Years ago, I was on the board of the
Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Net-
work, better known as GLSEN. One of
our tasks was to do a School Climate Sur-
vey to see if and how a school dealt with
LGBT issues. I went to my old high school
and spoke to the then principal. One of the
survey questions was, “Do you have any
openly gay teachers?” To my surprise,
he answered, “Oh yes, I think we have a
few!” Stunned, because it was a school
in a very conservative area, I responded,
“Wow! That’s great that gay students have
someone they can talk to.” He stammered,
“Oh no, we don’t have any gay students
at this school, and we certainly wouldn’t
let any teachers talk about it. We wouldn’t
want them flaunting their sex lives.”
Confused, and just before I launched
into a lecture about using the “F” word,
flaunt, I asked him how he knew there
were gay teachers if they weren’t allowed
to talk about it, and he responded, “Well, I
can pick them out by the way they walk.”
Facepalm. Needless to say, my alma ma-
ter didn’t receive a good review that year.
Happily, things have changed in many
schools, case in point, Springside Chest-
nut Hill Academy. An innovative school,
SCHA came to my attention when I read
a story about two students who published
a children’s book featuring a nonbinary
character, Candy, who goes on an excit-
ing, superhero adventure to find a cape.
The book, “A Cape for Candy,” is the
brainchild of writer Ella Stevens and was
illustrated by fellow student Whimsy
Mark-Ockerbloom. Stevens was able to
create her book because of the school’s
CEL Capstone program, a platform where
sophomore students can solve problems
they face in innovative ways through de-
sign.
Tell me a little about yourself?
ES: I’m a junior, 11th grade. I started
writing the book when I was a sophomore.
As for LGBT stuff, I’m the co-president,
there are two presidents… of our school’s
GSA. We have a pretty hefty number of
members at the school. It’s a great group,
so I’m pretty involved there.
Ah, the Gay, Straight Alliance.
ES: Actually, ours stands for Gender and
Sexuality Alliance. It used to be the Gay,
Straight Alliance, but we felt it was kind
of like excluding a lot of people. There are
a lot of people who don’t just identify as
gay or straight! We wanted to include ev-
erything else.
I like it.
ES: Yeah, so I do a lot of work with that
kind of stuff. I was elected with a friend
PROFILE
of mine to be co-president when I was a
freshman, and I’ve been president since
then — all of my sophomore year and all
of my junior year so far.
How did you get involved?
ES: Being a member of the community
myself, I’m really interested in LGBTQ
issues. When I was in middle school, we
had a club called “Diversity Club,” where
we mainly talked about race and gender
and all that. I found it really interesting
and wanted to talk more about it. It really
prompted me to dig more into my own
life.
“I HATE SEEING PEOPLE
CONSTANTLY GETTING
MISGENDERED; IT CAN REALLY
HAVE A DESTRUCTIVE EFFECT
ON PEOPLE’S LIVES AND MENTAL
HEALTH. AND IT’S SOMETHING
SO SIMPLE TO DO, JUST USING
A WORD, THE RIGHT PRONOUN,
THE NAME OF CHOICE, CAN
MEAN SO MUCH TO SOMEONE.”
What does it mean to have a GSA at
your school?
ES: It means a lot, and now it’s kind of
morphed into something even more for me.
When I was in middle school, we didn’t
have a GSA until my 8th-grade year, and
when we did get one, I wasn’t really into
it yet. I just thought, “What is this?” but by
the time I got to high school, I was learning
more about myself and the world around
me. Being able to have it at the school and
being able to lead the group means a lot to
me. I’m now able to help other people who
are struggling with it. There are underclass-
men who kind of look up to me for sup-
port, and I’m so glad I have ways to give
it. And a lot of times, I find helping them
helps me. I can’t imagine going to school
without having that safety line.
So Whimsy, tell me a little about your-
self.
WMO: I kind of do a whole bunch of stuff.
I’m studying forensics and library sciences
in college; I’m doing theater here at the
FA M I LY P O R T R A I T
school and theater outside of school; I do
art; I’m in an acapella group … [Laughing]
I’m a man of many talents!
Where are you originally from?
WMO: I’m from Philly, the whole time.
My parents are from Connecticut and Can-
ada, but they ended up in Philly, hunkered
down and made a home here.
What were you like as a younger kid?
WMO: [Laughing] A nightmare! No, it’s
actually kind of hard to say. I don’t know
if you’ve heard this before, but for a lot of
trans people, you don’t remember a lot of
your childhood just because it doesn’t fit
into the narrative of who you are now. I
kind of knew when I was little, and I do
remember that if people would mistake me
for a boy, I’d be like, “Yes!” I look back,
and it makes sense for me now. I came out
— I think it was two years ago? My
sophomore year?
ES: Yeah, it was my
freshman year.
WMO: So,
three
25
years ago. Nailed it! Yeah, it was a low-key
thing at first where people probably thought
I was gay. But then I came out to the entire
school as trans during an assembly.
That’s brave.
WMO: Well, it was during the “Day of
Understanding.” [Laughing] It’s not like I
just stood up in the middle of assembly and
yelled, “What’s up? I’m Trans!” No, it was
during a day of programming about diver-
sity.
ES: We have a lot of diversity events.
WMO: We do, so I came out on the “Day
of Understanding,” and then I sort of came
out to my parents that day as well. Wait, no,
I tried to come out the week before with a
really bad joke that was not funny at all to
them because I was panicked and depressed
as I was thinking [dramatically] “Oh God,
please don’t let them disown me! Please let
me be funny!” But it wasn’t; it went right
over my mother’s head.
What was the joke?
WMO: OK, this is dead true. So I printed
out a picture of some javascript code, like
computer code, you know? I held it up to
my mom and said, “What do me and this
picture have in common? We’re both non-
binary!” Get it?
[Laughing] Yes, I do.
WMO: Well, she didn’t, but two days later,
we were in the therapist’s office because I
was so depressed. My mom and dad asked
the therapist, “So is this a sex thing?” and I
was like, “No, no, no, no, no!” [Laughing]
It was the worst day of my life! No, not the
worst, but it was horribly embarrassing. It
was a long journey; I had to gradually ex-
plain to them what nonbinary means, what
trans means, the proper use of pro-
nouns, oh my God, it was the
worst!
page 30
26 L I T E R AT U R E
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020

Queer authors focus on LGBTQ mental health

VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH
PGN Contributor
Two area women are working to high-
light mental health issues in the LGBTQ
community. Stephanie Schroeder is a gen-
der-nonconforming former Philly resident
with spiky black hair, lots of denim and a
smoky laugh. Teresa Theophano is a South
Jersey queer femme with flaming red hair,
tattoos, piercing blue eyes and a quiet voice
that commands attention. These com-
pelling women are passionate advocates
for LGBTQ mental health — the subject
of their new book, “Headcase: LGBTQ
Writers and Artists on Mental Health and
Wellness.”
The details they present are critically
important to the LGBTQ community. One
in five Americans has a mental health
condition, yet it is the least discussed health
crisis in America. People with mental health
conditions are often stigmatized by their
disease, which makes accessing help all the
more difficult for people in crisis. This is
immeasurably harder for LGBTQ people
who also face the stigma of homophobia
and transphobia. As portions of the book
explain, there is a history of mental health
abuses of LGBTQ people, like conversion
therapy, and the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) listed
homosexuality as a mental illness until
1973 and being transgender a mental illness
until 2013. Those categorizations led to
both criminalization and institutionalization
of LGBTQ people.
Schroeder and Theophano are hoping to
open a dialogue about mental illness and
LGBTQ people with “Headcase.” The book
is a gripping compendia of 38 different
submissions from people with mental
health conditions as well as mental health
providers. Diversity informs the book with
a broad spectrum of contributors of all
genders, races, ages, classes and mental
health conditions. Included are essays as
widely different as a report on a trans youth
in Detroit, graphic art about what it feels
like to have an “invisible” illness, LGBTQ
substance abuse, being queer and Black
navigating the mental health system and
the intersection of religion and feelings
of worthlessness. It’s a fascinating, heart-
breaking and deeply compelling collection.
PGN spoke with Schroeder and The-
ophano about why they embarked on the
project and what they hoped to achieve with
it. Schroeder’s earlier memoir, “Beautiful
Wreck: Sex, Lies & Suicide,” detailed
her experience with bipolar disorder and
navigating the mental health system as a
lesbian. Theophano is a licensed clinical so-
cial worker. She works with older LGBTQ
adults and caregivers at SAGE.
When Theophano began the project, she
soon realized how mammoth it was. She’d
read Schroeder’s memoir and sought her
out. Theophano said, “I knew I had stum-
bled upon a kindred spirit. I didn’t know
how easy it would end up being to work
with her or how close our friendship would
become.” A meeting at a Manhattan coffee
shop led the Northeast Philly-born, South
Jersey-raised Theophano to a collaboration
that is now the first book of its kind.
Each woman comes to the project with
her own experience of mental illness and
queerness, which makes them uniquely
open to the breadth of LGBTQ experienc-
es with mental health conditions and the
system. Schroeder told PGN that devastat-
ing mental health conditions could crush
people financially in addition to unmooring
them within their own lives. Her essay in
the book is about how very hard — and
expensive — it is to access medication for
bipolar disorder. The costs of mental illness
for LGBTQ people, she explained, can be
insurmountable and even lead to homeless-
ness.
Schroeder said that LGBTQ people seek
out different means of support through
the community because the mental health
system can be so unwelcoming. “This is
the underground economy of trading meds,
procuring meds, helping each other out,
listening, trying not to call EMS on people
because they will end up in jail — it’s a
wide range of things,” she explained.
“Monetizing mental health is something
we have to deal with and find ways around,”
Schroeder added.
Theophano talked about how personal —
and life-altering — these experiences can
be. “I witnessed my partner’s suicide when
I was 35,” she explained. Her entry in the
book is gut-wrenching.
But it’s not the only personal piece for
her. “Headcase” has a compelling entry on
LGBTQ vets accessing mental health care
within the system. Theophano said her Viet-
nam-vet father living in Philadelphia made
her more aware of the issues veterans face.
Theophano and Schroeder have brought
their worldview into the project in a broad
and highly inclusive way. Theophano both
speaks of and writes about how essential it
is for LGBTQ people to be able to access
the help they need to save their own lives.
“I’ve been quite open about dealing with
depression and anxiety myself.”
Theophano added, “I love direct client
work.” She said there is “embedded trau-
ma” that LGBTQ people carry related to
being ostracized and demonized by society
— an aspect of LGBTQ mental health she
wanted to be sure was addressed in the
collection.
Crucial to both women was amplifying
the voices of marginalized people. Schroed-
er said LGBTQ people with mental illness
are often pushed to the “lowest rung” of so-
ciety, “facing barrier after barrier to getting
help, to getting well.” She said the threats
to LGBTQ people with mental illness are
manifold and costly on many levels, making
it hard to stabilize one’s life.
“Headcase” doesn’t tell the story of
LGBTQ people with mental health con-
ditions; it allows those people to tell their
stories and detail their experiences. The
book explores the various obstacles mental
illness presents — especially for those most
at the margins, like queer and trans people
of color.
“People are trying to survive,” Schroeder
said, simply.
Theophano and Schroeder have compiled
a testimony to LGBTQ survival in their new
book — everyone should have this book in
their library. n

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DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020 . epgn.com
Queer
theater
wrap up
CAMERON KELSALL
PGN Contributor
LGBTQ representation took center stage
in Philadelphia theater this year. Queer
artists told their stories, and out perform-
ers, directors and designers achieved
award-winning success with many differ-
ent varieties of entertainment. Here’s a
look back on the year in queer in regional
theater.
In January, Mauckingbird Theatre Com-
pany — long one of the area’s leading gay-
themed producers — returned after a period
of dormancy with a new production of Noël
Coward’s “Fallen Angels.” In an intrigu-
ing twist, the staging recast the two central
roles, written for women, with male-identi-
fied actors, playing a pair of bored London
housewives who consider an affair with
their shared former flame. The casting
allowed the audience to imagine what life
might have been like if gay marriage were
legal in the roaring ’20s.
Mauckingbird also helmed the area
premiere of Joshua Harmon’s “Significant
Other,” about a single gay man coping
with the marriages of his three women best
friends, during the Philadelphia Fringe Fes-
tival. Here’s hoping they’ll stick around and
bring us more gay theater for years to come.
Opera Philadelphia sponsored the U.S.
premiere of Robert Carsen’s legendary
production of “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream,” a seminal work by the iconic
queer composer Benjamin Britten. It was
a largely successful affair, with strong mu-
sical virtues, eye-catching design elements
and a solid sense of storytelling. The com-
pany’s commitment to queerness continued
into their annual O Festival, which featured
the world premiere of the extraordinary
“Denis & Katya” (by out composer Philip
Venables) and the strikingly original “Let
Me Die,” an exploration of the genre’s
fascination with death by the undefinable
performance artist Joseph Keckler.
The most memorable queer theater
often comes courtesy of smaller, emerging
companies. One of the highlights of my
theater-going year was a production of
Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and
Her Children,” which featured a cast of all
women-identifying and nonbinary per-
formers. It was the second full production
offered by Subscension Theatre, produced
al fresco in Headhouse Square. The casting
and staging choices drove home Brecht’s
message about the toll endless war takes on
marginalized communities.
The other major incubator for gay perfor-
mance is the Fringe Festival, and two pro-
T H E AT E R
27
ductions of works by legendary gay play-
wrights were well worth the effort. EgoPo
Classic Theater dusted off “And Tell Sad
Stories of the Death of Queens,” an ob-
scure but deeply personal drama by Tennes-
see Williams, revolutionary for its frankness
when you consider it was written in 1957.
(It was never staged until 2004.)
The story of a New Orleans trans woman
and her tragic search for love, it featured
incisive direction by Lane Savadove and a
gorgeous central performance by out actor
Rob Tucker. Designer Dane Eissler trans-
formed a small anteroom at the Asian Arts
Initiative into a striking garden-apartment
set, awash in cherry blossoms.
Also during Fringe, Tina Brock’s invalu-
able Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium
offered a rare revival of William Inge’s
“Come Back, Little Sheba” at the Beth-
any Mission Gallery. Inge never explicitly
wrote about his sexuality or the psychic
pain it often caused him, but allegory is
stamped all over the desperation of his
struggling suburban characters. Let’s have
more Inge productions in the future, OK?
Out playwright Adam Bock’s “A Small
Fire” opened Philadelphia Theatre Com-
pany’s 45th season, and it was the most
satisfying offering I’ve seen from the
company in many years. Bock, like Inge,
is a writer who understands how to extract
the extraordinary from ordinary people
and situations. His tale of a woman who
gradually loses all her senses — yet gains
“A SMALL FIRE” a new level of self-awareness — is exactly
Photo by Anthony Werhun
that. The legendary Bebe Neuwirth brought
some star power to the production, but more
than that, she offered an expertly calibrated,
fully inhabited performance.
Lastly, at Two River Theater in Red Bank,
“DENIS & KATYA”
Photo by Dominic M. Mercier for Opera Philadelphia N.J., an exciting world premiere closed
out the year. “Love in Hate Nation,” by
well-regarded composer Joe Iconis (“Be
More Chill”), spoofs bad-girl movie tropes
of the 1950s and ’60s with surprising elan.
But at its center, it also features a tender
love story between two teenage girls, who
discover their own identities after being
shipped off to a reformatory. Amina Faye
and Kelly McIntyre, as the two young
women, flaunted rafter-shaking voices and
winning personalities. Remember their
names. And remember “Love in Hate Na-
tion,” because it’s going places.
The Barrymore Awards for Excellence
in Theatre, held on Oct. 14, also reward-
ed queer artists and stories. “The Color
Purple” (Theatre Horizon), a thrilling
stage adaptation of Alice Walker’s lesbian
love story, swept the musical categories.
Out actors Justin Jain and Brandi Burgess
took home prizes for their leading perfor-
mances in “The Great Leap” (InterAct
Theatre Company) and “Cry It Out”
(Simpatico Theatre), respectively. “Gem
of the Ocean” (Arden Theatre Company),
directed by the talented out theater-maker
James Ijames, won multiple prizes, includ-
ing Outstanding Director of a Play.
There is more theater in general, and
queer theater in particular, happening in our
region than I could fit into a single column.
And there will be more to come in 2020. Do
yourself a favor: Go out and see a show. n
28 PGN
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020
TODD ELLISON
Health and Wellness Directory from page 19
actions with him. It’s the most personal thing I’ll
ever do.”
Ellison also plans to sing, but he claimed, “I
Advertise your business am not a singer per se, but I have sung with the
POPS.” He explained, “I did a duet during Broad-
in our directories way week, and at Christmastime, there was a
song I wanted to do, but the person couldn’t sing
it. I didn’t want to lose the song, so I sat at the pi-
for only $25 per week ano, and the orchestra played. It was fun. We did
when you run for 12 performances, but I was so tired of having to
protect my voice. I don’t want to be that person
a minimum of 8 who has to rely on their instrument like that. But
weeks. I can sing a song and have fun with it.”
That said, or that sung as it were, Ellison
won’t be found hanging out at piano bars any-
more. The conductor lives in New York with his
partner of 15 years — an actor he met during
“42nd Street” — and their two kids. The proud
papa explained, “We did surrogacy, so one child
is biologically his, and one is biologically mine.
They love music.”
If either of Ellison’s children goes into music,
they will have a good foundation because Elli-
son understands the power of song. Moreover, he
gets tremendous joy in sharing music with others
through POPS and Broadway.
When asked about catering to gay men who love
show tunes, he demurred, “You celebrate it togeth-
er because the show tunes of the ‘30s ‘40s and ‘50s
made it into the soundtrack of our lives. The Amer-
ican songbook — Gershwin and Porter sung by
Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. Now it’s ‘Dear
Evan Hanson’ and ‘Rent’ and the rock shows.”
But for Ellison, it is also Barry Manilow, Bette
Midler and Billy Joel. And of course, Marvin Ham-
lisch. n
“Hamlisch: With Love,” Conducted by Todd El-
lison at Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, Jan.
17-19, 2020. For tickets and more informa-
tion, visit https://www.phillypops.org/con-
certs-events/2019-20-tops-pops-season/ham-
lisch-love.
DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020 . epgn.com Q PUZZLE
29

PERSONA

CLAUDE CAHUN
(1894-1954)
Posthumously famed queer por-
trait artist and writer whose
gender moved situationally.
Resistance worker, propagandist,
lover — jailed for it all. One mask
under another and another,
Cahun reminds us that our faces
Q Puzzle 39 4/24/42, to Bar- 7 Closet item 37 “West Side Story”

FLUIDITY
bra (abbr.)
42 First year in a gay
decade
8 Grp. for Annapo-
lis grads
9 One who obeys a
Jet, e.g.
38 One sheet to the
wind?
are many.
43 Free verse master 39 Where Kopay
Across “rhyme scheme” 10 Having sex, with played for the Lions
1 “Queen of Coun- 47 Hot time for “it” 40 Moor green with
try” McEntire Colette 11 Shoots a wad jealousy
5 Coming out, for 48 Dropout’s doc. from below? 41 Certain VWs
a pansy 49 AnaÔs Nin ac- 12 Like some lodge 44 Tammy or James
10 “What a ___!” count members 45 Not straight
(Bette Davis) 50 See 36-Across 13 Queer-looking 46 Prime-time soap
14 Trireme propel- 53 “There’s Some- swimmers of old
lers thing About Mary” 18 “Nick at ___ “ 49 Gossip from Ted
15 Trunk of Map- actor Matt 22 Edna Ferber Casablanca, e.g.
plethorpe photos 54 Like bell-bottom novel 51 Other people’s
16 Silica stone jeans 24 Of a rear en- children.
17 1971 football 55 “Breaking ___ trance 52 Type of daddy
movie of Billy Dee Hard to Do” 26 Word on a 53 Give the slip to
Williams, who was 57 “___ good turn Broadway ticket 56 Excellent, in
just involved in a daily” 27 Youngman of slang
gender-fluid discus- 58 Heterogeneous one-liners 59 Pointy protru-
sion mixture 32 “...farewell, auf sion
19 Ingrid’s “Casa- 59 1981 American Wiedersehen, __” 60 Verb suffix for
blanca” role crime thriller with 33 Paul of “Holly- Rupert Everett
20 Some commuter Williams wood Squares” 61 Org. offering
trains 62 “Why should ___ 34 Milk, in a way AIDS coverage
21 Intro, at Gay.com you?”
22 Uppity sort 63 Hayes of “South
23 Volleyballers Park”
do it 64 What we eat
25 1975 Williams 65 Pleasure oneself,
movie with Diana with “off”
Ross 66 Where to have a
28 Steak lover’s moving experience
meat in bed?
29 Young lady com- 67 “Showboat” cap’n
ing out
30 Stick your chip Down
in it 1 Tinkerbell por-
31 Ward of “Once trayer Julia
and Again” 2 Place for a stud
32 Cole Porter, et 3 City on the Avon
al., to Yale 4 Nutty-fruitcake
35 Poli ___ filler
36 1972 Williams 5 “C’est Moi,” to
movie with Diana Lancelot
Ross, with 50-Across 6 Enjoy an Oreo B Y J E S S B R Y A N T / I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y A S H C H E S H I R E
30 PGN
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020

FAMILY PORTRAIT
from page 25
How have they come along?
WMO: Better. As I’m figuring it out,
they’re coming along for the ride. I’ve
eased them into accepting that I was
nonbinary masculine. At first, they
were a little freaked out by the idea of
me fully transitioning to a guy, which I
don’t want to do; I want to stay a kind of
neutral masculine dude.
What was your experience Ella?
ES: It’s interesting, you know that ev-
erything Whimsy learned about all this
was from the internet.
WMO: Yeah, mostly Tumblr.
ES: But I learned most of it at school
through the diversity club, which is kind
of whacked — that Whimsy had to find it
on their own, while I learned it at school.
Because it’s not something our parents
really spoke about. Though I did have
gay neighbors, and my mom would say,
“That’s so and so, she has two moms!”
And that was about it. But to answer
your question, it’s complicated; I’m still
trying to figure — I mean I don’t think I
even had an identity for ...
WMO: [Laughing] No identity! You
weren’t even a person?!
ES: Ha, ha. No! I’m still looking! Well,
this year, I think I found at least one
thing I’m more or less solid on, gender
identity. I’m pretty solid on being fe-
male. I’m not totally vibing on she/her
pronouns, but I’ll work on that.
Well, labels seem less important
these days.
WMO: The world’s ending anyway.
ES: Yeah, I have more pressing things
to deal with now. Like, I have a math test
on Thursday. Now that’s something I’m
worried about. I can discover my iden-
tity on Saturday!
Good point.
ES: As for my sexuality, I jump back
and forth between am I attracted to this?
Am I attracted to that?
WMO: You’re attracted to me!
ES: Whimsy! So, as for me properly
coming out, I went to my first Philly
Pride parade this June, and I basically
put a coming out post on Instagram.
It wasn’t anything specific like I am a
“blank” identity; I just said, “I’m gay.”
[Laughing] I enjoy using overarching
umbrella terms, they’re quite nice.
What made you decide to write a
book? Had you written before?
ES: No, it was actually a school project.
It’s a semester-long project for the CEL
Capstone program. CEL is the Center
for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and it’s
a project-based program designed to en-
courage students to think about real-life
entrepreneurial challenges and opportu-
nities. It’s part of what we learn in every
grade, but the Capstone program gives
sophomores hands-on project-design
experience. Our teachers Edward Glass-
man and Juliet Fajardo were the facilita-
tors. It’s a cool program; they want you
to build or create something that solves
a problem that you or people you care
about are affected by. So my project was
to write and publish a children’s book
with a nonbinary hero.
Why did you think it was important?
ES: It was inspired by my trans friends.
I hate seeing people constantly getting
misgendered; it can really have a de-
structive effect on people’s lives and
mental health. And it’s something so
simple to do, just using a word, the right
pronoun, the name of choice, can mean
so much to someone. And I thought,
what’s the root of the problem, are peo-
ple just not used to using the correct pro-
nouns, or are they just horrible people?
One thought I had was that people are
not used to it because it’s not something
they hear at a young age, so I decided to
create a children’s book using they/them
pronouns and a nonbinary character. I
didn’t want it to be about some special
nonbinary character; I wanted it to be a
character who just happened to be non-
binary.
When did you get involved, Whimsy?
WMO: Ella walked up and asked me if
I would illustrate her book, and I said,
yeah. She gave me some weird sketches
that were — well, Ella’s more of a
writer, let’s put it that way. But I got the
idea, and from there, I created Candy.
The main thing I wanted was for Candy
to have a neutral physique and a bubbly,
fun personality. I thought of some sec-
ond graders I knew and went from there.
The mother is slightly based on my
mom; I wanted a character that felt safe
and accepting. And she has blue eyes
like my mom and reddish hair, which
my mom always wanted!
That sounds like a lovely tribute.
Now for some silly questions: if you
were on “Survivor,” what would be
the one item you’d bring?
WMO: Being practical, I’d go for a
crowbar. You can open things, you can
break things, and you can hit things. It’s
an all-around perfect — or wait, maybe
a Swiss army knife would be smarter?
No, I’ll stick with crowbar; I want to
whack things, plus it’s more dramatic.
ES: If I were on “Survivor,” I’d bring a
12-pack of Sharpies and a pad, because
I’m too lazy to try and actually survive,
so I’d just sit on the side and color the
whole time.
Nice. Is the book available?
ES: Not yet, we’re working on getting
it up on Amazon as a free Kindle ebook.
Hopefully soon. You’ll just have to keep
an eye out for it. n

S AY DENALI BERRIES STUCKEY

TAMEKA “MICHELLE” WASHINGTON
ZOE SPEARS

THEIR
BROOKLYN LINDSEY
BAILEY REEVES
BEE LOVE SLATER
JAZZALINE WARE

NAMES ASHANTI CARMON

CLAIRE LEGATO
MUHLAYSIA BOOKER
CHYNAL LINDSEY
CHANEL SCURLOCK
JORDAN COFER
PEBBLES LADIME “DIME” DOE
JAMAGIO JAMAR BERRYMAN
ITALI MARLOWE
TRACY SINGLE
BUBBA WALKER
KIKI FANTROY
PARIS CAMERON
DANA MARTIN
BRIANNA “BB” HILL

THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN REPORTS 22 TRANSGENDER PEOPLE HAVE BEEN VIOLENTLY KILLED IN 2019. PGN WILL CONTINUE TO SAY THEIR NAMES.
DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020 . epgn.com
PGN
31

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32 PGN
Philadelphia Gay News . DECEMBER 27, 2019-JANUARY 2, 2020

ON SALE NOW!
BROADWAY
Hamlisch
WITH LOVE
A Dedication to Marvin Hamlisch
and his musical achievements from
Broadway to Hollywood!

JANUARY 17-19 Music Director Mary Poppins’

Verizon Hall | The Kimmel Center TODD ELLISON ASHLEY BROWN

BROADWAY

Sondheim
A 90th Birthday Celebration
BUY THE
BROADWAY
2-PAC!
HAMLISCH AND
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