Philadelphia Gay News

LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976 | VOL. 43 NO. 36 | SEPTEMBER 6-12, 2019| | HONESTY | INTEGRITY | PROFESSIONALISM |

Family Portrait: Local trans PAGE 6 CHOP rises to top, Jeffer- No single gene PAGE 8
Noel Ramirez people talk access son falls short in HRC’s determines same-sex
to healthcare Healthcare Equality Index attraction
PAGE 19 PAGE 9

Trans woman to be transferred to Trans woman speaks out

women’s prison following lawsuit after boyfriend’s death
A New Jersey DOC spokesperson
BY TIMOTHY CWIEK
timothy@epgn.com
declined to comment for this story.
Doe began serving a prison sentence
Faith Palmer, girlfriend of recently deceased
back in March 2018 for offenses stem- Maurice “Reese” Willoughby, tells PGN about
A New Jersey transgender woman ming from addiction. Since then, she’s
who’s been incarcerated in men’s prisons been housed in four different men’s pris- misgendering by police, harassment
for the past 17 months will be transferred ons and experienced mistreatment in each name and gender, she said. While “Faith
to New Jersey women’s prison later this one, according to court records. BY LAURA SMYTHE Palmer” and “female” were denoted by
month, it was announced last week. Doe has been verbally abused and laura@epgn.com the officer when taking down her gen-
The decision comes in response to a beaten by prison staff, called a “f--- eral information on the report, the writ-
lawsuit recently filed against the state’s --g fa---t” by a cellmate, denied female In the days leading up to her boy- ten description of the incident misgenders
Department of Corrections by the undergarments, denied access to hormone friend’s alleged death by suicide, North Palmer, according to documents obtained
American therapy in Philadelphia trans woman Faith Palmer by PGN.
C i v i l a timely was denied a restraining order against him In June, the Philadelphia Police
Liberties manner, by the District Attorney’s Office and mis- Department unveiled a new policy,
U n i o n and placed gendered by police Directive 4.15, that
of New in solitary officers in a domestic overhauled the guide-
Jersey. confine- violence report she lines for officers’ inter-
On Aug. ment for filed. actions with the trans
28, rep- lengthy The Aug. 16 report, and nonbinary com-
resenta- periods taken by Police munities — a mandate
tives of the of time, Officer Tigue, details that is hailed as one of
DOC sent according that around 7:30 the most progressive in
an email to court that morning, “he the country. “Personnel
to Mercer records. was in an argument will address members
County Borden with his boyfriend, of the public using pro-
S u p e r i o r EDNA MAHAN CORRECTIONAL FACILITY FOR WOMEN s t r e s s e d his boyfriend picked nouns, titles of respect,
C o u r t the need the [complainant] and name as expressed
Judge Douglas H. Hurd informing him for DOC to respect the gender identity of up and slammed FAITH PALMER AND MAURICE b y t h e i n d iv i d u a l ,
that plaintiff “Sonia Doe” will be trans- its inmates. them to the ground. “REESE” WILLOUGHBY regardless of what is
ferred to the Edna Mahan Correctional “Sonia Doe is a woman,” Borden said. [Complainant] made Photo: Facebook listed on their govern-
Facility for Women in Clinton, N.J. by the “For the past 17 months, she’s been sub- previous Domestic ment issued identifica-
week of Sept. 15. ject to daily discrimination. The harm Violence Reports and tion,” it reads.
“I think we can safely say that within she’s experienced has been extraordinary. was denied a [Protection From Abuse Maurice “Reese” Willoughby, 20, of
the next several weeks our client will be It’s included being physically assaulted Order] by the DA’s Office.” North Philadelphia, was found dead Aug.
at the women’s prison,” said Tess Borden, by correctional staff in retaliation for Palmer showed Tigue both state and 18 in the residence he shared with his girl-
an attorney for Doe, on Aug. 29. asserting her rights as a PAGE 23 federal identification that uses her correct friend Palmer and her PAGE 5

Philly-based app connecting LGBTQ folks with informed, affordable health care nears launch
BY LAURA SMYTHE
laura@epgn.com
A new app aimed at connecting LGBTQ
Philadelphians with queer-competent,
affordable health care providers is launch-
ing early next month, just in time for
OutFest, the nation’s largest National
Coming Out Day event on Oct. 13.
QSPACES, which will be available for
iOS and Android, will allow users to sift
through providers by category or medical
specialty, and leave ratings and reviews
regarding doctors’ competency around
LGBTQ health concerns, like hormone
therapy, proper pronoun
usage and fertility treat-
ments.
“It’s been difficult, even
today, for the LGBTQ com-
munity to trust health and
wellness providers … where
you’re talking about your
body or sensitive subjects
about your health and those
already really vulnerable
situations,” said QSPACES
founder and CEO Catherine Hofmann,
who identifies as queer. “[We’re] mak-
ing sure you’re dealing with
someone who’s competent
around LGBTQ issues,
around gender and sexu-
ality, as well as whatever
specialty they’re operating
in, and then at the very least
that they’re not homophobic
or transphobic.”
Ongoing are the tasks of
collecting provider listings
and developing the app,
but Hofmann said she wants to allow
users to sort through providers who accept
Medicaid, offer mental and physical health
care services on a sliding scale or give dis-
counts to certain qualifying parties.
The upcoming app is round two for
QSPACES, which was founded in 2016.
A $10,000 innovation prize from Thomas
Jefferson University primarily funded the
initial go, which included the launch of a
now-defunct website. But the project was
put on hold due to a lack of viable tech
partnerships and other operational insecuri-
ties, Hofmann said. PAGE 23
2 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 LOCAL
PGN

Resource listings Out candidate files appeal for

Legal resources reinstatement to Nov. ballot
• ACLU of Pennsylvania: • Philadelphia Commission candidate to be eligible to run in the general
215-592-1513; aclupa.org on Human Relations — Rue BY TIMOTHY CWIEK election as an Independent. Cohen maintains
• AIDS Law Project of PA: Landau: 215-686-4670 timothy@epgn.com her withdrawal was voluntary.
“The bottom line is Ms. Cohen made
215-587-9377; aidslawpa.org • Philadelphia Police Liai- Sherrie Cohen has filed a lengthy appeal, timely voluntary withdrawal by court order,”
• AIDS Law Project of South son Committee: 215-760- challenging the ruling of a Philadelphia the appeal states. “Judge Fletman erred and
Jersey: 856-784-8532; aid- 3686; ppd.lgbt@gmail.com judge who disqualified her from running for failed to credit Ms. Cohen’s withdrawal as a
a seat on City Council as an Independent voluntary withdrawal.”
slawsnj.org/ • SPARC — Statewide Penn- candidate in the general election after having Cohen’s appeal specifically blasts
• Equality PA: equalitypa. sylvania Rights Coalition: relinquished her primary run as a Democrat. Fletman’s ruling for not citing the case of
org; 215-731-1447 717-920-9537 In an 11-page ruling issued Aug. 16, Oliviero v. Diven, which the appeal says
Common Pleas Judge Abbe F. Fletman “clearly” shows that voluntary withdraw-
• Office of LGBT Affairs — opined that Cohen was too late in withdraw- als can occur in two ways — either as an
Amber Hikes: 215-686-0330; ing from the primary election to run in the administrative withdrawal by March 27 or
general election as an Independent. as a later withdrawal approved by a judge.
amber.hikes@phila.gov
Cohen, a lesbian, filed a 58-page appeal of Cohen’s appeal emphasizes that she rea-
that ruling in Commonwealth sonably expected to be able
Community centers Court on Aug. 28. She ini- to run as an Independent.
tially sought to run as a “Sherrie Cohen relied on the
• The Attic Youth Center; 255 S. 16th St.; 215-545-4331, atticyouth- Democrat in the May 21 pri- existing case law discussed
center.org. For LGBT and questioning youth and their friends and allies. mary but dropped out of the above,” the appeal states.
race in April after her former “Based on this reasonable
• LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania; 3907 Spruce campaign manager made neg- reliance, she spent a lot of
St.; 215-898-5044, center@dolphin.upenn.edu. ative comments about Deja time and effort, including get-
• Rainbow Room: Bucks County’s LGBTQ and Allies Youth Alvarez’s ancestry during a ting 8,000-plus signatures. If
Center Trans Day of Visibility cele- the law is to be changed, it
Salem UCC Education Building, 181 E. Court St., Doylestown; 215-957-7981 bration. would be unfair to apply those
ext. 9065, rainbowroom@ppbucks.org. Alvarez ran as a Democrat changes to her due to her reli-
for an at-large Council seat. ance on the above discussed
• William Way LGBT Community Center Had she won, she would existing law.”
1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220, www.waygay.org. have been the first openly trans member The appeal also stresses the right of voters
of the municipal governing body. Alvarez to elect the candidates of their choice.
is challenging Cohen’s candidacy as an “Judge Fletman erred in not recognizing
Health and HIV testing Independent in the general election. the need for a liberal interpretation of the
Of Council’s 17 seats, seven are at-large, election code in order to protect the candi-
• Action Wellness: Spring Garden St.; 215- including two reserved for non-Democrats date’s right to run for office and the voters’
• Mazzoni Center:
1216 Arch St.; 215- 769-3561; bebashi.org — which Republicans have historically right to elect the candidates of their choice.”
1348 Bainbridge St.;
981-0088, actionwell- held. Cohen hopes to fill one of those posts Additionally, the appeal points out that
• COLOURS: colour- 215-563-0652, mazzon-
ness.org as an Independent in the Nov. 5 general none of Cohen’s nominating signatures has
sorganization.org, 215- icenter.org
election. been challenged. “She had strong support
• AIDS Healthcare 832-0100 • Philadelphia Her appeal faults Fletman for allegedly for her candidacy and had obtained over
Foundation: 1211 • Congreso de Lati- FIGHT: 1233 Locust interpreting the relevant case law on election 8,000 signatures. None of her signatures
Chestnut St. #405 215- nos Unidos; 216 W. St.; 215-985-4448, matters too narrowly. were challenged.” the appeal states.
971-2804; HIVcare.org Somerset St.; 215-763- fight.org “All the case law in election cases cites a Samuel C. Stretton, an attorney for Cohen,
• AIDS Library: 8870 • Washington West need for liberal interpretation to keep ¬— if expressed optimism that the appeal will be
1233 Locust St.; aidsli- • GALAEI: 149 W. Project of Mazzoni at all possible — a candidate on the ballot. successful. “I absolutely believe we’re right
brary.org/ Susquehanna Ave.; Center: Judge Fletman failed in not using this liberal on this one. The judge misinterpreted or
• AIDS Treatment 267-457-3912, galaei. 1201 Locust St.; 215- interpretation, which is so obvious in this misread the cases,” Stretton told PGN. “The
Fact line: 800-662- org. Spanish/English 985-9206 case — particularly since Sherrie Cohen, in case law is clear that if you voluntarily with-
6080 • Health Center No. 2: • Transgender her nomination papers, had over 8,000 sig- draw from a primary you have a right to be
• Bebashi-Transi- 1720 S. Broad St.; Health Action Coali- natures, which is a very significant number on the general-election ballot if you file your
tion to Hope: 1235 215-685-1821 tion: 215-732-1207 of signatures,” Cohen’s appeal states. nomination papers, which Sherrrie did.”
According to Fletman’s ruling, March 27 Cohen also expressed optimism that she’ll
was the deadline for a candidate to volun- be reinstated. “I turned in 8,300 signatures,’
tarily withdrawal from the primary and still Cohen told PGN. “These are people who
Other be eligible to run in the general election. want to see me on the ballot as a candidate.
• Independence Branch Library Barbara Gittings Gay and Cohen didn’t withdraw from the primary Their rights as voters should be respected.
Lesbian Collection: 215-685-1633 until April 18. My right as a candidate to choose which
But Cohen argues that she should be race I want to run in should be respected.
• Independence Business Alliance; 215-557-0190, Independence- able to withdraw after March 27 and still I’m optimistic that Commonwealth Court
BusinessAlliance.com run as an Independent because of a 1980 will agree.”
law that allows candidates to do so if their Alvarez said she’s confident her challenge
• LGBT Peer Counseling Services: 215-732-TALK withdrawal is approved by a judge. Cohen will be successful. “I’m confident with our
• PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and notes that her withdrawal was approved by position that Sherrie Cohen dropped out of
Common Pleas Judge Idee Fox. the primary too late to run in the general
Gays (Philadelphia): 215-572-1833
Cohen’s appeal acknowledges that with- election,” Alvarez told PGN. “I have faith in
• Philly Pride Presents: 215-875-9288 drawal from a primary must be voluntary — Judge Fletman’s legal expertise and that her
rather than due to some type of error — for a ruling will stand.” n
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 3
4 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 LOCAL
PGN

Social group creates ‘a sense of home’ for Philly’s LGBTQ Asian residents
The Pew Charitable Trusts, 8 percent of
BY LAURA SMYTHE Philadelphia’s residents are Asian. A June
laura@epgn.com 2018 publication by the same organization
indicates that, as of 2016, the largest pop-
A couple years ago, Matthew Wong ulations of foreign-born residents in the
attended a town hall at William Way LGBT city hail from China and Vietnam.
Community Center for people of color. Of “A lot of API individuals come in [to
about 80 folks attending, Wong counted PAQ] with
two other Asian people in the audience. that some-
Having moved to Philadelphia post-grad- what shared
uation from the University of Notre Dame in story of
Indiana, Wong wanted to create a space for traditional
other queer Asian folks leading cross-cul- culture, tra-
tural lives similar to his own. East Asian by ditional par-
ethnicity, Wong grew up in Ohio with his ents and not
mom, who hails from the Philippines, and necessarily
his father, of Malaysia. knowing
“The [Asian Pacific Islander] queer com- who to talk
munity, and just API in general, feels to or hav-
somewhat erased, especially when you talk ing a com-
about POC as a collective,” said Wong, a munity that
26-year-old gay man. “POC tends to be they believe
incredibly focused on the Black and Latinx they can fall
community, whereas Asians tend to be back to,”
fighting this line of being POC or just gen- Wong said.
erally accepted within white culture. We “That’s
don’t necessarily know where we fall.” what our
Wong founded Philadelphia Asian & organiza-
Queer, a volunteer-run social organization tion hopes
that aims to create a sense of commu- to provide.”
nity among LGBTQIA-plus Asian Pacific P A Q
Islander people in the City of Brotherly members
Love. On Sept. 22, the group will over- participate
haul Wong’s initial town hall experience in monthly
by hosting its own such event at William b r u n c h
Way to engage with local queer Asian socials at
folks. Attendees will discuss current issues API-owned
in Philadelphia and participants’ concerns businesses
will inform PAQ’s future programming. across the
Since the organization’s inception, Wong city as an
said it has become more inclusive by focus- ode to “the
ing on welcoming API trans and gender importance ASIAN & QUEER GROUP
nonconforming people.The town hall will that food Matthew Wong
serve as “a call to action,” he added, pro- has on our
viding the group with “a chance to really traditional upbringing, but also in our cur-
bring all the diverse voices that we want rent development as LGBTQ API folks,”
represented within the API community.” Wong said. The next event takes place
PAQ has a general membership of Sept. 29 at Filipino restaurant Sarvida in
about 80 people, with about 20 routinely Fishtown. PAQ participants also unpack
active members. Many participants are of the LGBTQ Asian experience at a monthly
Filipino, Indonesian, Vietnamese or East support group hosted at William Way.
Asian backgrounds. On Sept. 27, the social organization is
According to an April 2019 report by trying out a new kind of programming by
holding Lotus Lounge Night, an API drag years ago, Ramirez became only more
and dance night, on Sept. 27 at the Center bewildered. While filling out a standard
City gay bar Boxers PHL. Proceeds will form for the public service, Ramirez
benefit the Asian Mosaic Fund Giving looked at the options he could select to
Circle, which is committed to advanc- indicate his ethnicity. He noticed they
ing the wellbeing of Philadelphia’s Asian didn’t include his own identity, Ramirez
community. said.
N o e l “There’s a large Asian population in
Ramirez, Philly. Why are we not represented in a
who identi- jury duty form?” he added. “That was
fies as queer, the symbolic thing that made me think a
is a PAQ lot about, ‘Wow, we have been erased in
board mem- many spaces.’”
ber who The experience invigorated him to
has been dive into PAQ. Ramirez now hosts group
involved events like barbeques to share with other
with the queer Philadelphians what he describes as
organiza- a tenant of his Southeast Asian upbring-
tion for two ing: creating “a sense of home.” He added
years. He the importance of PAQ stems from the
came into sense of community it fosters for some
the role with LGBTQ Asian people who may struggle
a decade- to come out to their families.
long track “My experience with Filipino identity is
record of family is super important. You make deci-
being active sions based on your family; you’re part of
in the east a unit,” Ramirez said. “When we enter this
coast’s gay concept of queerness and coming out, it’s
API organiz- kind of disruptive because even the word
ing scene. ‘family’ assumes a heteronormative iden-
Ramirez, tity. So to introduce that for some folks is
who is a bit of a challenge.”
Filipino, Further difficulty comes from living in
moved to the United States, Ramirez added, where
Philadelphia all API people are considered “just Asian.”
from New “There are centuries of war between
York City countries, so it’s hard to say, ‘Oh yeah,
12 years ago this is a collective experience,’” he told
and grew PGN. “We’re doing this programming to
up in Jersey really develop not a universal voice, but
City — both a collective voice that includes all expe-
OUTINGS. Photo: Courtesy m u n i c i - riences.”
palities he For Wong, the goal for the group mov-
described as ing forward is “truly creating this Asian
having a vibrant LGBTQ Asian scene. diaspora within our community” for all of
But when he arrived in his new home, Philadelphia’s API folks.
the behavioral health therapist was disap- “We want to truly be encompassing of
pointed. South Asians, we want to be inclusive of
“The racial politics of Philly is largely East Asians, people located in the Middle
Black and white,” he told PGN. “So to be East,” he said. “My ultimate goal is for
in the middle of that, it can be troubling everyone to be able to come to this one
and challenging.” organization and be there and be them-
When he was called for jury duty two selves.” n

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Published by Masco Communications Inc. Copyright © 1976 - 2019 Copyright(s) in all materials in these pages are either owned or licensed by Masco Communications Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliate companies (Philadelphia Gay News,
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 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 5

FAITH PALMER from page 1

cousin in the Frankford section of the city.
Media response quickly linked his alleged
suicide to a video in which Willoughby is
seen being bullied by a group for his rela-
tionship with Palmer.
Many have since blamed Palmer and
their relationship for Willoughby’s death,
including Willoughby’s family, Palmer
said. She has received several threats,
prompting her to file additional police
reports about the harassment, Palmer
added.
Palmer said she wants people to know
there is more to Willoughby’s story: years
of systematic oppression and struggles
with mental health and addiction — both
for which he tried seeking care, with her
support.
Willoughby had a doctor’s appoint-
ment to get help for experiencing addic-
tion scheduled at North Philadelphia’s
The Wedge Medical Center, P.C. for Aug.
19 — the day after he was found dead,
according to documents Palmer shared
with PGN. Palmer detailed Willoughby’s
life as one fraught with sexual violence he
experienced while in and out of the foster
care system throughout his adolescence.
The two were unable to obtain jobs despite
actively applying and not having adult
criminal records, Palmer said, leading her
to engage in survival sex work.
Palmer said she hoped filing for a restrain-
ing order would pressure Willoughby to
get help for his addiction. But instead,
Palmer described a broken system where
she was sent back and forth between police

“We’re here for

and victims services organizations, each
requesting documentation from the other
office to proceed with her case. In the end,
she said, she was left to return without help
to her home — an abusive environment she
attempted to report.
“I want to tell people to go get help, I

each other, no
do, but I went to get help and I still got
the same result that I would’ve gotten if I
wouldn’t have [gone] to get help,” she said.
“So I understand firsthand why people are
scared to go get help, because you go to the
places you’re supposed to go to and you
get turned around.”

matter what.”
what.”
Moving forward, Palmer told PGN she
hopes to see stronger policies and proce-
dures that will allow LGBTQ folks to be
respected by victims’ services and law
enforcement officials, and require them to
follow guidelines like Directive 4.15.
“Imagine how many other stories can
come to light. We’re losing transgender
people damn near every day,” Palmer said.
“I was supposed to be one of them … but I
made it out. But I’m being shaded because
HIV does not define our friendships.
I made it out.” n When we support those living with Let’s stop HIV stigma together.
HIV, we make it easier for them to Learn how at cdc.gov/together

Philadelphia Gay News

live healthy lives.

/ActAgainstAIDS /ActAgainstAIDS @TalkHIV

LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976 | HONESTY | INTEGRITY | PROFESSIONA

6 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
Local trans people talk access, competence in health care
BY LEO CALDWELL
PGN Contributor
Philadelphia is home to the largest trans
wellness conference in the world, Mazzoni’s
Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference,
a transgender fellowship training program
and, soon, two LGBTQ-focused health care
centers — the Mazzoni Center and a new
Jefferson-sponsored center to open in 2020.
But many trans folks in the greater
Philadelphia area are waiting weeks for
appointments for basic medical care.
“My access to health care has been up in
the air and unstable for the last two years,”
said Nathan Rodriguez, a 29-year-old trans
man who lives in South Jersey.
When Rodriguez moved from North
Jersey to South Jersey, he transferred his
medical care to the Mazzoni Center. He said
at first the care was “OK” but over the last
year he has struggled to get an appointment.
Rodriguez occasionally experiences UTIs,
which he contributes to his phalloplasty, sur-
gery to construct a penis. Familiar with
UTI symptoms, Rodriguez called Mazzoni
and booked an appointment in May. As the
appointment neared, however, he received a
call from Mazzoni to reschedule his appoint-
ment for the end of June because his doctor
was unavailable. Rodriquez said he treated
the symptoms with over-the-counter medi-
LOCAL
PGN
cations but the symptoms continued until his
June appointment.
At the June appointment, a rapid test
result indicated he had a severe UTI. The
doctor said they would call in two prescrip-
tions to Rodriquez’s pharmacy — one anti-
biotic and testosterone. Rodriquez went to
pick up the prescriptions at his pharmacy 24
hours later and they had not been called in.
He called Mazzoni and was told this issue
would be marked urgent. After more than a
week of back and forth with the pharmacy
and Mazzoni, Rodriquez received his testos-
terone prescription but never the antibiotic.
He gave up on getting the prescription and
continued to treat the UTI with over-the-
counter remedies.
Gabrielle Gibson, a 35-year-old trans
woman, has also struggled to receive con-
sistent care at Mazzoni.
Gibson has been receiving care at Mazzoni
since 2014. She indicated that in the last
couple of years, “Mazzoni has got kind of
confusing.”
“I called for an appointment in June,
and they had to make my appointment for
September. It boggled my mind because
when I started going there I could write an
email and get in. It gets really intense when
I’m running low on my hormones. I wonder
— will they refill them in time?”
Mazzoni’s 2015 annual report indicated
the health care services saw a dramatic 77
percent increase in overall patient visits
from 2012 to 2015. In the 2016 report, 35
percent of the patients were transgender or
genderqueer. However, patient visits have
remained at around 22,000 from 2015 to
2018. It appears the trans patient population
has also remained around 3,000 from 2015
to 2019. But trans-specific reporting and
research are limited.
“Last time I called for an appointment at
Mazzoni, they offered other places for me
to go,” said Shayne Malcolm, a 35-year-
old trans man who lives in Philadelphia.
Malcolm has been receiving care at Mazzoni
since 2009 and said, “They seemed less
booked up then.”
A 2015 study in the American Journal of
Public Health that assessed U.S. academic
facilities to determine if they had procedures
to identify LGBT-competent doctors found
that only 9 percent had such procedures and
only 16 percent reported having comprehen-
sive LGBT-competency training. This year,
four providers left Mazzoni.
“Recently, several providers have left
Mazzoni Center to pursue other opportuni-
ties or for personal reasons. As a result, wait-
ing times for nonemergency care, including
care for new trans patients is currently 90
days. Because of the population we serve,
we hire with care to ensure new clinicians
are fully LGBTQ competent and a good
fit with our patients and the community.
Thus, bringing new providers takes a little
longer. However, we are actively recruiting
and have hired two new providers who will
start this month. Our goal is to hire a full
complement of providers by the end of the
winter season,” said Mazzoni’s Director of
Communication Larry Benjamin.
Outside of Mazzoni, trans patients often
experience different issues.
Gibson went to Cooper Hospital in New
Jersey due to asthma-related issues, and she
said she had no issues navigating their care.
The staff used the correct pronouns and
made sure to ask her name since her identi-
fication had not been updated.
In contrast, she went to a doctor at
Jefferson and felt he was asking unneces-
sary and inappropriate questions. She asked
to see a different doctor. She said the
second doctor was very excited to treat
her because she was his first transgender
patient. Jefferson Health was unable to be
reached for comment for this article.
“I didn’t feel uncomfortable about being
the first. We are in this period of time where
people are starting to understand,” said
Gibson.
Rodriguez, however, said he doesn’t
like to see doctors that aren’t well versed
in trans-related care. He has traveled to
Philadelphia for emergency room visits
instead of going to closer ERs near his home
in New Jersey. PAGE 6
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 7

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FOR OUR LGBTQ GUESTS AND FRIENDS
CASINO

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Enjoy this two-day food festival featuring Borgata’s star-studded roster of celebrity chefs, including
Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck, Michael Schulson, Michael Symon and Geoffrey Zakarian along with
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8 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
NATIONAL
PGN
No “gay gene” can predict sexual
orientation says new study
BY VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH
PGN Contributor
A massive new study indicates sexual ori-
entation cannot be predicted by a single “gay
gene” as previously pondered but genetics do
play a role in sexual orientation.
The controversial new research, published
on August 29 in “Science” and was based on
an ambitious study of the genomes of nearly
500,000 people. The results indicate that sex-
ual orientation has a genetic component but
there is no single gene that can be isolated
to define what “causes” homosexuality as
opposed to heterosexuality. The “Science”
study explains that a plethora of genetic and
environmental factors play a role.
The researchers wrote, “Analyses of inher-
itance of sexual orientation in humans has
indicated that same-sex sexual behavior has
a genetic component.... A genome-
wide association study on 493,001
participants from the United States,
the United Kingdom and Sweden to
study genes associated with sexual
orientation....Like other behavioral
traits, nonheterosexual behavior is
polygenic.”
According to the study, by an
international team of researchers,
a third or more of the genenomic
spread plays a role in determining
whether an individual has same-
sex sexuality. But that comes from
a combination of genes, making it
impossible to determine someone’s
sexuality based on genes alone.
While the study appears to sunder the “gay
gene” theory, the details also provide new
insights into the genetic complexities of sexu-
ality and how it develops differently in a signif-
icant minority — as much as 10 percent — of
the human population that has sex with same-
sex partners, either exclusively or in addition
to opposite sex partners.
The international team of researchers who
analyzed genetic data were succinct that gay-
ness is not a vague phenomenon but a fully
realized sexual orientation with several genetic
components.
“Across human societies and in both sexes,
some 2 percent to 10 percent of individuals
report engaging in sex with same-sex part-
ners, either exclusively or in addition to sex
with opposite-sex partners,” wrote the study
authors.
The study found, for example, that same-sex
attraction can have a biological component.
Researchers explained that identical twins are
more likely to share the same sexual orienta-
tion than either fraternal twins or other sib-
lings. Researchers asserted that these factors
suggest genetic influences.
The data was vast, funded by the National
Institutes of Health and other national and
international agencies, including the National
Science Foundation and the Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development, which made funding
available specifically to investigate the genet-
ics of sexual orientation.
Researchers analyzed data for 477,522 par-
ticipants in surveys from the U.K. and U.S. and
did comparison testing of 15,142 people in the
U.S. and Sweden. One intriguing component
was how the surveys were skewed: Some sur-
veys recorded whether the individuals ever had
a same-sex partner while others recorded how
people identified their orientation.
The genetic data came from several sources.
One source was the U.K. Biobank where
people ages 40-69 answered extensive health
and behavioral questions between 2006-10.
The researchers also used data from nearly
70,000 customers of the genetic testing service
23andMe. These people had a median age of
51, were mostly American and had answered
survey questions about sexual orientation. All
were of white European descent,
which is significant as gayness runs
across all racial and ethnic groups.
This was one of the factors that the
study authors explained limited a
broader application of the study’s
findings. Also, trans people were
not included in the study.
The study revealed several hun-
dred genes have an influence on
sexuality. The researchers found
five genomic spots with significant
effects on sexual orientation. When
tested, the researchers discovered
that these genetic factors combined
accounted for 8-25 percent of same-
sex behavior the study’s partici-
pants reported.
Additionally, researchers found that differ-
ent genetics resulted in same-sex behavior for
women than for men. This difference could be
hormonal or socially constructed, according
to the researchers. Women are more “gender
fluid” than men and there are more bisexual
women than men, the study found. “Just the
fact that they look at women is a hooray,” said
Melinda Mills, a professor of sociology at the
University of Oxford, who wrote a commen-
tary that “Science” published with the study.
The study authors also explained and
explored how same-sex behavior and attitudes
changed over the lifetimes of the participants,
which, they concluded, means there is a sig-
nificant impact from socialization and social
environments.
The study concluded that genetics cannot
completely determine who will be gay, bisex-
ual or heterosexual. But Benjamin Neale, a
geneticist at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and
Harvard and one of the lead researchers on the
international team who is also openly gay, said,
“I hope that the science can be used to educate
people a little bit more about how natural and
normal same-sex behavior is. It’s written into
our genes, and it’s part of our environment.
This is part of our species, and it’s part of who
we are.” n

CHOP rises to top, Jefferson falls short in
2019 LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Index
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA
BY VICTORIA A. BROWNWORTH
PGN Contributor
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
Foundation recognized Children’s Hospital
of Philadelphia (CHOP), Temple University
Hospital, Penn Medicine, Mazzoni Center,
Einstein Medical Center-Philadelphia and
other Philadelphia-area health care facil-
ities as “LGBTQ Healthcare Equality
Leaders” and “Top Performers.”
Philadelphia was among the highest
ranked cities in the country for LGBTQ-
friendly medical care in HRC’s 2019
Healthcare Equality Index released August
16. Now in its 12th year, HRC calls its
Healthcare Equality Index “the national
LGBTQ benchmarking tool that evaluates
healthcare facilities’ policies and practices
related to the equity and inclusion of their
LGBTQ patients, visitors and employees.”
The HEI 2019 evaluated more than
1,600 healthcare facilities nationwide.
Pennsylvania had the fourth highest num-
ber of ranked healthcare facilities in the
country, with all but one — Thomas
Jefferson University Hospital in Center
City and their affiliate, Abington Hospital,
both part of the Jefferson Health system
— ranking between 95 and 100 percent.
Jefferson’s and Abington’s scores were
the outliers in the state, ranking below
hospitals in less LGBTQ-friendly areas,
like Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in
Allentown, and Geisinger-Shamokin Area
Community Hospital in Coal Township.
Lehigh Valley had a 95 percent score and
Geisinger-Shamokin, nestled in coal coun-
try 100 miles outside Philadelphia, had a
perfect score.
In comparison, both Jefferson and
Abington had a score of 75, the only
LOCAL
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 9
Sales Representative at PGN
Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) currently has immediate opening for adver-
tising 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
generation and cold calling, combined with a track record of closing the sale.
Photo: Facebook
Qualifications: * Two years minimum of successful sales experience, for-
Pennsylvania facilities ranked by HRC to mer print and/or advertising sales are a plus * Strong verbal and writing
have a score below 80. Jefferson Health’s
other Philadelphia hospital, Methodist skills * Excellent at relationship building * Ability to work independently
Hospital in South Philadelphia, was not and part of a team * Knowledge of local media market and LGBT communi-
ranked in the study.
While Jefferson could not provide a ty a plus * Computer literacy a must
statement to PGN by press time, Larry
Benjamin, Director of Communications Salary/Benefits: Competitive Salary based on your past experience, plus
at Mazzoni Center, addressed concerns
over Jefferson’s low ranking. Mazzoni commission. Our benefits package includes medical and dental insurance,
Center received a near-perfect score of 95. paid holidays, vacation and a casual work environment.
“We have a long-term relationship with
Jefferson Health,” Benjamin said. “From
our conversations, it is clear to us they are Qualified individuals interested in applying are encouraged to send their
committed to not just raising their HRC résumé. to mark@epgn.com
score, but also to strengthening their rela-
tionship with the community and deliver-
ing services that are LGBTQ competent
and affirming.”
Benjamin said, “As part of their com-
mitment, Jefferson came on board as
the Presenting Sponsor of this year’s
Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference.
In addition, our education department
recently delivered LGBTQ competency
training for their staff at Methodist Hospital
as part of a larger plan which would offer
this training across their entire hospital
system.”
The purpose of HRC’s evaluation is
to provide LGBTQ patients, who may
face discrimination and other challenges
obtaining quality care, with the best data
on where to find supportive and LGBTQ-
friendly physicians and other medical per-
sonnel. The Healthcare Equality Index sur-
vey participants were assessed on four cri-
teria: nondiscrimination and staff training,
patient services and support, employee ben-
efits and policies, and patient and commu-
nity engagement. Participants that received
the maximum score in each category and a
total score of 100 points PAGE 16
*PGN is an equal opportunity employer
10 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
Editorial
Responsible media coverage of
the LGBTQIA-plus community
When the story of Maurice
“Reese” Willoughby’s apparent
death by suicide broke, all outlets
pushed forward the same narrative:
his death came as the result of bully-
ing received for his relationship with
a trans woman.
Details were updated, noting his
experiences with addiction and
domestic abuse reported by his part-
ner, Faith Palmer, but not before
Palmer’s identity was misused.
Her identity as a trans woman was
used to propel a story that didn’t ade-
quately dive into nuance.
PGN waited to cover the news,
as we grappled with how to accu-
rately write a story that centered a
trans woman’s identity as part of
the explanation for another person’s
death. Though we tried to tell a fuller
story on press day, we knew we
didn’t have the opportunity to tell it
as well as we would have liked.
This week, we continued our
efforts to secure a time to speak with
Palmer, and her story is complex and
thoughtful. While the truth, in this
instance, is difficult to ascertain, it is
EDITORIAL
PGN
EDITORIAL
important that news outlets do their
due diligence in providing the most
accurate, in-depth coverage possible.
Palmer has received death threats
over the last week as people blame
her for Willoughby’s death. While
those threats are only to blame on the
people deploying them, this situation
could have been handled with more
care from national outlets.
While breaking news is important,
complex narratives are far more inte-
gral to reporting, and giving voice
to those affected by our coverage is
essential. As news outlets, we need
the freedom to speak freely, but also
the sense to comprehend that our
words carry weight and our coverage
affects lives.
As a community news outlet, we
understand it’s sometimes difficult
to reach sources, especially in times
of crisis. But we urge journalists to
continue to follow up and want to
reassure readers of our commitment
to do so. Together we can encourage
each other to report deeply, contact
unfamiliar sources or give those
affected by coverage a voice. n
Creep of the Week D’Anne Witkowski
Steve King
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but
Steve King is in trouble. It seems, and
I take no delight in saying this, that the
Republican Party has forsaken him.
Oh, who am I kidding? I take great
delight in pointing out that Steve King, one
of the most outspokenly racist and anti-
LGBTQ House members, no longer has any
friends. Or any friends with deep pockets,
anyway.
As many news outlets have reported,
King is up for reelection to the U.S. House
of Representatives, where he currently rep-
resents white people in Iowa, and his cam-
paign is hurting for cash.
As The Daily Beast reported, “As he faces
the toughest campaign since he was first
elected in 2002, he is doing so with a poten-
tially catastrophic lack of resources. The
$18,365 that King’s campaign had in the
bank at the end of June was the least cash
on hand he’s ever reported after the first six
months of a cycle.”
In other words, dude is broke. For con-
text, The Daily Beast also reported that
another Republican is challenging King in
the primary, and that guy has over $300,000.
Not to mention the fact that Democrat J.D.
Scholten is running against King again, hav-
ing lost last time by only a few points.
For those who are familiar with King,
you know how awful he is. But during this
dumpster fire we call the Trump Presidency,
it’s easy for even the most terrible
Republican to kind of get lost in the back-
ground. But no matter how terrible Trump
is, King has made a valiant effort to say,
“No! I’m worse!”
Take his most recent comments in favor
of rape and incest, for example. King is
strongly anti-choice and would like all
abortion outlawed even in cases of rape and
incest. During a speech to a group of con-
servatives in Des Moines King said, “What
if we went back through all the family trees
and just pulled out anyone who was a prod-
uct of rape or incest? Would there be any
population of the world left if we did that?
... Considering all the wars and all the rapes
and pillages that happened throughout all
these different nations, I know that I can’t
say that I was not a part of a product of
that.”
In other words, thank God for rape and
incest, otherwise we wouldn’t have so many
people on this planet. And, gosh, if King
can’t definitively trace his ancestry back far
enough to rule out any possibility of rape
or incest, well, can’t no woman nowhere
decide what to do with her body ever again.
Case closed.
King is also well known for being hella
racist. There’s a reason why neo-Nazi web-
site Daily Stormer calls King “our guy.”
Despite years of well documented racism,
the GOP largely let King go unchecked. At
the beginning of 2019 the finally punished
King by taking
away his House
committee seats
after remarks
made praising
white suprem-
acy. Still, many
Republicans
are acting
SHOCKED that
King is such a vile human.
In addition to racism, King also has
a long and storied history of being anti-
LGBTQ. Since taking office in 2003 King
has not been shy on this issue and has been
Creep of the Week many times over the
years.
A few of his greatest hits: last year he
tried to make flying rainbow flags over
U.S. embassies illegal. He “joked” that
Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor
and Elena Kagan should “elope to Cuba”
together (get it? Because they’re liberal
justices so they must be lesbo for each
other). He’s likened transgender people to
castrated slaves. He doesn’t want transgen-
der people to use the bathrooms in the U.S.
Capitol building. In 2015 he claimed the
Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling
meant that people could marry a lawn-
mower.
According to Salon, in 2014 King sup-
ported an Arizona bill that would essen-
tially give blanket protections for people
who want to discriminate against LGBTQ
people. He claimed that if LGBTQ people
were protected by discrimination that they
would then just go looking for lawsuits.
“How do you know who to discriminate
against. They have to tell you,” King said
according to Salon. “And are they then
setting up a case? Is this about bringing a
grievance, or is it actually about a service
that they’d like to have?”
I can just see it now: two guys trying to
decide what to do on their next date. “Want
to watch something on Netflix?” asks the
first guy. “Nah,” the other guy replies.
“Let’s goad the florist down the street into
discriminating against us so we can sue
him.”
There are a lot of terrible people who
hold office in the U.S. Often, it can feel
like everyone is corrupt and all of it is
pointless so why bother voting because
we’re all doomed. But it really is possible
to vote for good people. People like J.D.
Scholten, for example.
King is proof that there are consequences
for being horrible. However, he’s also proof
that in order for there to be consequences
in the Republican Party, you have to work
really, really hard at being the worst. n
D’Anne Witkowski is a poet, writer and comedian
living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been
writing about LGBT politics for over a decade. Follow
her on Twitter @MamaDWitkowski.

Time for renewal and unification
Welcome back from summer. What
did you miss?
Let’s see Marvel announced another
LGBT character, scientists
say there’s no one single gay
gene, rather a combination
of genetic factors, and it was
announced that the TV show
you should be watching,
“Pose” was renewed for a third
season.
Then, there is the s--t show
that is Trump, but hey, we all
agree that no matter who the
Democratic nominee eventu-
ally is, we all are committed to
voting for him or her.
Mark My
If not, you are part of the
problem as any Democrat is
Words
light years ahead of what we Mark Segal their original group of leaders
currently have, and sitting this
out is not acceptable.
But for my home base of Philadelphia,
there’s another issue. In the last couple
Letters and Feedback
Dear PGN,
I am a gay man, and I fully support
every member of our community, but
for the last year I’ve been reading
trans issues cover stories! How about
one article in regard to gay men’s for-
OUTPour Antar T. Bush
49th place goes to Philadelphia County
As a Black gay man who came out in
1994, I remember how the AIDS epidemic
cut short so many lives. These days,
Philadelphians worried they have been
exposed to HIV have access to post-ex-
posure prophylaxis (PEP). People who do
contract HIV can access effective treatment
plans. And for anyone who thinks they
are high risk (me!), pre-exposure prophy-
laxis (PrEP) is increasingly available in
Philadelphia. In the 1990s, these treatments
were unfathomable to so many friends I
lost.
So, why doesn’t this encouraging picture
of HIV apply everywhere? Or to every-
one? According to the Centers for Disease
Control, African-Americans accounted for
44 percent of HIV diagnoses in 2016,
despite comprising only 12 percent of the
population — and the disproportion seems
to be growing. That year, HIV diagnoses
OP-ED
PGN
of years, there’s been some unrest at sev-
eral of our community nonprofit orga-
nizations. Many LGBTQ institutions
have had their issues — in the
realms of healthcare, youth
services and politics. When
this happens, there are various
ways to look at it.
For me, I’ve learned over the
last 50 years that this can be
a time for renewal. Discover
what the issues are and work
to improve the organization.
We don’t have to take the time
to reinvent the wheel, and that
does take time. We’re a young
community, and many of these
organizations were the first
of their kind and most likely
learned their jobs…on the job.
The changes and the political climate
for our community have been great and
nonprofits have had to change to stay
gotten lives? We’re quietly becoming a
dying breed!
I haven’t seen a single gay man on
the cover of, let alone a poz gay man.
I’m sitting here looking at a Positively
Aware detailing the Native American
women’s HIV epidemic.
among African-American gay and bisex-
ual men aged 25-34 increased by 30 per-
cent. If you are a young gay Black man
in America, you have a 1-in-2 chance of
contracting the virus — compared with a
1-in-11 chance if you are a white gay man.
This is not good for gay men and trans
women of color in the wealthiest country
in the world. It is time for Philadelphia’s
Black LGBTQ community to do what
lawyer and advocate Randall Robinson
says: develop a “crowd-source under-
standing of what a community needs.” As
a collective, we need to come up with 10
demands for our nonprofit organizations,
public health officials and medical pro-
viders, who continue to make millions of
dollars off the backs of Black and Brown
gay men and trans women. It is time we
start judging these institutions by how
our community is impacted due to their
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 11
competitive. From fundraising to build-
ing a professional staff to building a
solid group of volunteers and working
we wanna know:
with governments to secure funding and
grants for new programs. There is a What is your
learning curve, and it’s a tall order since experience
these nonprofits continue to provide accessing LGBTQ -
community services and do the commu- informed healthcare?
nity’s bidding, while trying to stay on
that curve.
My message is: Let’s make this fall
a time for renewal. Work together to
ensure professionalization. Don’t just
speak out negatively, speak out and find “I had to become
common ground. a health care
There is an important battle coming,
and we need to be a united community
provider to learn
how to advocate
to help save our brothers and sisters from
harm to our rights, primarily trans rights
and access LGBTQ
care for myself.”
that are being destroyed by the current
administration. You think it’s bad now,
what if all of the program support and
funding these organizations currently
receive disappears? Time to unite! n
“I’m a patient at
Mazzoni, which
is great, but they
are understaffed.
Appointments take
Put the gay back in PGN. Make
months.”
America GAY again!
Maybe, make it a yearly thing — the
gay men’s issue.
Kindly,
Michael Sean Foster
“100 percent
self-educated”
decisions.
This means we can no longer wait for
federal, state and local systems to tell us
what we need. Out of 3000 counties in the
“I didn’t get
U.S., Philadelphia County has the 49th LGBT-informed
highest rate of HIV infection. The stan- health care
dards and programs here are not work- until I went to an
ing for our communities. Philadelphia’s LGBT-focused
LGBTQ community is hyper-segregated provider.”
and has a lot of health inequality, which
is why activists are searching for ways to
address this disparity in our city.
We need to create an equity-assess-
ment program for the city of Philadelphia,
ensuring every city agency assesses their
programs, policies, procurement, lead-
ership and hiring practices. Moving for-
follow us on instag ram to be a
ward, we need to demand ALL health part of our social polls and
programming is executed through a lens q uestions: @phillygaynews
of equity.
Our lives depend on it! n
12 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 PGN

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Income Investing? Think Dividends

Q: I’m looking to retire soon and am — produced average annualized returns DIVIDENDS CAN BOOST TOTAL RETURN you determine if div-
trying to decide how to produce income of 16.3 percent vs. 14.7 percent for the idend-paying stocks
from my investments. Interest rates on S&P 500 overall, with less volatility are a good fit for your
bonds haven’t been so great lately and (11.7 percent vs. 12.7 percent, respec- portfolio. n
a friend suggested investing in dividend tively).1
paying stocks, but I’m worried about the • Dividends benefit from potentially Jeremy R. Gussick is a
favorable tax treatment. Most CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
risks. Please help. PLANNER™ profes-
taxpayers are subject to a top sional affiliated with LPL
A: With your retirement federal tax rate of only 15 per- Financial, the nation’s
coming soon, it’s certainly cent on qualified dividends, largest independent bro-
important to understand although certain high-income ker-dealer.* Jeremy spe-
your level of risk, consider- taxpayers may pay up to 23.8 cializes in the financial
ing recent market volatility. percent. However, that is still planning and retirement
income needs of the
And while many people turn lower than the current 37 LGBT community and
to bonds for perceived safety percent top rate on ordinary was recently named a
and income, dividend paying income. 2018 FIVE STAR Wealth
stocks may serve as a good • Dividend-paying stocks Manager as mentioned in
compliment to bonds for may help diversify an Philadelphia Magazine.**
income. income-generating portfo- He is active with several
Out Money lio. Income-oriented investors ChartSource®, DST Systems, Inc. For the period from January 1, 1989-December
LGBT organizations in
the Philadelphia region,
It used to be that investors
seeking steady income turned
Jeremy may want to diversify poten-
tial sources of income within
31, 2018. Stocks are represented by the S&P 500 index. Stock prices are repre-
sented by the change in price of the S&P 500 index.
including DVLF (Delaware
Valley Legacy Fund)
exclusively to bonds, whose Gussick their portfolios. and the Independence
regular interest payments pro- Stocks with above-average Business Alliance (IBA),
vided a dependable income source, espe- dividend yields may compare favorably cipal. Also, dividends can be increased, the Philadelphia Region’s
cially for retirees. But times have changed. with bonds and may act as a buffer should decreased and/or eliminated at any time LGBT Chamber of Commerce. OutMoney appears
without prior notice. That’s why it’s monthly. If you have a question for Jeremy, you can
With many retirements today lasting 30 conditions turn negative within the bond contact him via email at jeremy.gussick@lpl.com.
years or more, income investors need to market. important to choose your dividend-paying
make sure their savings keep pace with If you are considering adding divi- stocks carefully, since some companies Jeremy R. Gussick is a Registered Representative
inflation and last a long time. This means dend-paying stocks to your investment may increase dividends to attract investors with, and securities and advisory services are offered
investing in assets that provide current mix, keep in mind that they generally if their finances aren’t watertight or their through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment
income, yet have the potential to grow in carry higher risk than bonds. Stock invest- outlook is cloudy. Advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC.
value and yield over time. ing involves the potential for loss of prin- Your financial professional can help PAGE 17
One widely used strategy is to include
dividend-paying stocks in your portfolio.
History provides compelling evidence of
the long-term benefits of dividends and
their reinvestment:
• Dividends are a sign of corporate
financial health. Dividend payouts are
often seen as a sign of a company’s
financial health and management’s con-
fidence in future cash flow. Dividends
also communicate a positive message
to investors who perceive a long-term
dividend as a sign of corporate maturity
and strength.
• Dividends are a key driver of total
return. There are several factors that
may contribute to the superior total
return of dividend-paying stocks over
the long term. One of them is dividend
reinvestment. The longer the period
during which dividends are reinvested,
the greater the spread between price
return and dividend reinvested total
return.
• Dividend payers offer potentially
stronger returns, lower volatility.
Dividends may help to mitigate port-
folio losses when stock prices decline,
and over long time horizons, stocks
with a history of increasing their
dividend each year have also pro-
duced higher returns with less risk
than non-dividend-paying stocks.
For instance, for the 10 years ended
June 30, 2019, the S&P 500 Dividend
Aristocrats — those stocks within the
S&P 500 that have increased their div-
idends each year for the past 25 years
14 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 COLUMN
PGN

JEFFREY E. GOLDMAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW

SPECIALIZING IN PARTNERSHIP AND EMPLOYMENT LAW
Three Cheers of Victory for Ol’ U=U!
Proven track record of recovering millions of dollars for wrongfully treated employees!* Sure most HIV advocates have heard of U=U, but
Experience litigating:
• Partnership & business disputes
how do we get the rest of the world to listen?
• Non-competes
For about the past decade, activists
• Executive compensation
and advocates have been working hard
• Employment discrimination to educate the world on a very import-
• Real Estate Litigation ant scientific fact about living with HIV:
that undetectable equals untransmittable
Jeffrey E. Goldman, Esq. Also handle: (U=U). U=U is a now globally accepted
100 S. Broad St. • Wills, Living Wills, Trusts and Powers of Attorney scientific consensus that simply means
Suite 1330 when a person living with HIV reaches an came when the U.S. Centers for Disease
Philadelphia, PA 19110 Put 18 years of experience to work for you! undetectable viral load (also sometimes
Jeff.Goldman@verizon.net called virally suppressed) for six months
*Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
or longer, they are virtually unable to
transmit the virus to a sexual
partner — even without the
use of condoms.
Not only is this vital,
life-changing information for
those living with HIV, but also
Repairs, Renovations and Remodeling certainly could be the key to
ending HIV once and for all.
(215) 467-3335 Just think about it. If everyone
on the planet currently living
Pa. HIC #026545 with HIV had access to today’s
Phila. Lic. #17895 highly effective antiretroviral
from 65 countries have signed the U=U
Consensus Statement, which has been
translated into 15 different languages and
is endorsed by the principal investiga-
tors of the leading studies that proved the
statement true.
The biggest breakthroughs for U=U
Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed
that the consensus was “backed by sci-
ence.”
Dr. Carrie Foote agrees and
adds that U=U is also a human
rights issue, as she recently
stated at the Conference on
Retroviruses and Opportunistic
Infections (CROI 2019) in
Seattle earlier this year: “All peo-
ple living with HIV have a right
to accurate information about
their social, sexual and reproduc-
tive health.”
Foote has been living with

“Our”
drugs that can quickly get you
to undetectable — and were
Positive HIV since 1988, is a founding
member of the U=U campaign

Family Plumber
aware that being undetectable
means they cannot pass along
Thoughts and is an Associate Professor
of Sociology in the School
Desiree of Liberal Arts at Indiana
for over 30 years the virus — would HIV con-
tinue to spread as it does? University-Purdue.
Bruce Richman, executive Guerrero “Stigma is killing us,” she
director of the Prevention added. “HIV stigma is a public
Access Campaign, says of course not. health emergency and U=U is an immediate
Richman has fought relentlessly for and effective response to begin to dismantle
nearly a decade now to share this ground- stigma.”
breaking, stigma-shattering evidence. He Dr. Foote said that U=U is an incredi-
founded the U=U consensus campaign bly significant finding, but this “amazing
after discovering the little-known science science” is not as well-known as it should
after fearing he’d exposed a partner to be. Millions of people living with HIV are
HIV around 2010. “I learned from my still unaware of the facts and implications
doctor that because I was undetectable, I of U=U and what it means for their lives.
couldn’t transmit HIV,” he told Plus maga- She says much of the responsibility lies on
zine last year. “I couldn’t pass it on. I was the medical community, which needs to
elated!” keep patients informed about U=U as well
His excitement soon turned to outrage as update their HIV-related brochures, fact
when he realized “every HIV treatment sheets and treatment guides to reflect this.
site, media outlet, HIV/AIDS service At CROI, Foote also shared some quotes
organization, federal and state health from HIV-positive people from around the
department — just about everywhere — world, illustrating the impact of U=U. In
was saying that I was still a risk. And mil- the words of Mark from Baltimore: “When
lions of people with HIV were still a risk.” I finally internalized this message… some-
“To clear up the confusion,” Richman thing suddenly lifted off of me that is hard
added, “a group of us living with HIV to describe. It was almost as if someone
collaborated with researchers on a [U=U] wiped me clean.” n
consensus statement and advocacy cam-
paign.” Desirée Guerrero is the associate editor of Plus mag-
The simple, catchy and game-changing azine. This column is a project of Plus, Positively
Aware, POZ, TheBody.com and Q Syndicate, the
U=U campaign launched in July 2016. LGBT wire service. Visit their websites – http://
Within record time, the campaign has hivplusmag.com, http://positivelyaware.com, http://
become a global movement led by people poz.com and http://thebody.com – for the latest
living with HIV. Today, 500 organizations updates on HIV/AIDS.

Philadelphia Gay News

LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976 | HONESTY | INTEGRITY | PROFESSIONALISM |
 PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 15

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16 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 PGN
CHOP from page 9
earned the title of “Healthcare Equality
Leader,” and facilities that score 80-95
points were named “Top Performers.”
HRC President Alphonso David said in
a statement, “As the Trump-Pence admin-
istration continues to attack the most fun-
damental rights of LGBTQ people, includ-
ing rolling back non-discrimination pro-
tections in the Affordable Care Act and
promoting a license to discriminate in
health care, it is more important than ever
that health care institutions stand with the
LGBTQ community.”
CHOP, long touted as a national leader in
healthcare for children and adolescents and
ranked best among all children’s hospitals
in the country, is featured on the cover of
the Healthcare Equality Index 2019.
HRC said, “Since it began, the HEI
has successfully encouraged hospitals and
other healthcare facilities across the nation
to adopt LGBTQ-inclusive patient, visita-
tion and employment policies.”
“Over time and due to a decade of
advancement in LGBTQ inclusion in daily
life, healthcare facilities have worked
harder than ever to increase their work
to provide equitable care for the LGBTQ
community — and now the HEI survey
reflects and promotes these efforts through
its scoring criteria,” HRC added.
Both Penn Medicine, which includes
six area hospitals, and Temple University
Hospital, touted their placement with press
releases about their HEI rankings. Penn
Medicine and Temple both received per-
fect scores.
“This honor is due to the efforts of the
more than 180 members of the Temple
Health LGBTQ Alliance Task Force,
whose mission is to provide and advo-
cate for LGBTQ-centered care, education
and research across Temple University
Health System, the Lewis Katz School
of Medicine at Temple University and
the community we serve,” said Michael
Young, president and CEO of Temple
University Hospital in the hospital’s
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announcement. “We are committed to pro-
viding an inclusive, safe and supportive
care environment for our LGBTQ patients,
staff, visitors, faculty and students.”
Penn Medicine includes the Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania
(HUP), Pennsylvania Hospital, Penn
Presbyterian Medical Center and Chester
County Hospital. In their press release,
Penn Medicine noted, “The HRC
Foundation has consistently recognized
Penn Medicine hospitals as leaders in
LGBTQ patient-centered care, but this
year marks two ‘firsts’ for the health sys-
tem. Princeton Health participated in the
foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index
survey for the first time and scored a total
of 100/100 points, earning the HRC’s
coveted ‘LGBTQ Healthcare Equality
Leader’ designation. Penn Medicine’s
Lancaster General Health also earned the
‘Equality Leader’ designation.”
“Maintaining an inclusive, welcoming,
and compassionate environment for all of
our patients, visitors, and staff is critical
to any health system, and Penn Medicine
is committed to prioritizing this in our
workplaces, classrooms, and clinical set-
tings,” said Patrick J. Brennan, MD, Penn
Medicine’s chief medical officer. “Having
all of our hospitals on this list is a tremen-
dous accolade for the health system.”
HRC noted that 81 percent of participat-
ing health care facilities scored 80 points
or more, suggesting that many U.S. hospi-
tals and medical centers are fully engaged
in providing LGBTQ-centered care.
Also among the top-ranked facilities in
the Philadelphia area were Willowcrest
Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
of Einstein Healthcare Network and Penn
Student Health Service at the University
of Pennsylvania. Both scored 100.
HRC’s David said, “The health care
facilities that participate in HRC’s
Healthcare Equality Index are making
clear that they stand on the side of fairness
and are committed to providing inclusive
care to their LGBTQ patients.” n
 NATIONAL
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 17

Nuelle said Schmitt believes that regardless of

“race, creed, zip code or gender,” everyone should
be treated with dignity under the law.
LEGAL & PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
Media Trail Lawsuit: School official harassed When It
trans teen in bathroom Comes To Small businesses
can afford special
NBC News reported a lawsuit has been filed on Your Money… attention in our
LA police probe transgender behalf of a West Virginia transgender student who
said an assistant principal harassed him when he
Experience PGN directories.
women bar removal as hate crime tried to use the boys’ bathroom. Counts
The American Civil Liberties Union announced Serving our LGBT Community
The Fresno Bee reported Los Angeles police are the lawsuit against the Harrison County Board of for over a decade.
investigating the aggressive removal of a group of Education Aug. 28. Spaces this size are
• Retirement Income Planning
transgender women from a bar as a possible hate The statement says the district has failed to cre- • Investment Management only $50 per week
crime. ate a safe school environment for teenager Michael • Estate Planning when you run for a
Department spokesman Officer Jay Chaves said Critchfield.
Aug. 26 a complaint was filed with police and that The ACLU said an assistant principal followed
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the matter is “in the hands of detectives.” Critchfield into the boys’ bathroom in November at 2016 Five Star Wealth Manager
Liberty High School and said, “You freak me out.” Philadelphia Magazine
Cell phone video footage showing security guards Award details at www.fivestarprofessional.com
shoving and dragging two transgender women and a Critchfield said he also was ordered to prove his
Jeremy R. Gussick, MBA
gay man out of the downtown Los Angeles bar was gender by using a urinal. He was 15 at the time. CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™
widely shared on social media over the weekend. ACLU state legal director Loree Stark calls the
Khloe Rios said a straight couple approached her lawsuit “a last resort.” 856-452-0060
and a group of friends and yelled slurs and attacked Assistant county schools superintendent James jeremy.gussick@lpl.com
them. Lopez did not immediately return a telephone mes-
She said the bar’s security guards escorted the sage.
couple out but used excessive force with them. A Registered Investment Advisor Member FINRA/SIPC
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted Sunday
his office will ensure a “proper investigation is com- California law requires updating
PARTNERS IN LAW
pleted.” transgender grads’ records PARTNERS IN LIFE
Missouri attorney general: Law KSBY.com reported California Gov. Gavin
Newsom has signed a bill requiring school districts
doesn’t protect LGBTQ people to update their records to reflect the chosen names
and genders of graduates.
The Missourian reported Missouri’s attorney Newsom announced Aug. 30 that he approved the
general believes that federal law doesn’t protect bill by Democratic Assemblyman David Chiu of
LGBTQ people from discrimination. San Francisco.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt was among GOP Chiu said his bill will give greater protections to MINSTER & FACCIOLO, LLC
attorneys general nationwide who signed a U.S. those who are transgender or nonbinary after it takes • WILLS & ESTATES •
Supreme Court brief outlining the position Aug. 23. effect next year, making it easier to apply for college • DISCRIMINATION •
The attorneys general are wading into a legal and jobs. • SMALL BUSINESS •
battle over whether discriminating against someone He said old records can also inadvertently reveal • DIVORCE •
because they’re gay or transgender violates a federal that a graduate is transgender when they have not • EMPLOYMENT •
law banning sex discrimination. The cases will be otherwise made the transition public. • REAL ESTATE •
argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 8. California law protects current transgender stu- • CIVIL ACTIONS •
Schmitt’s spokesman Chris Nuelle said when the dents from discrimination, but Chiu said some • AUTO ACCIDENTS •
landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, sex schools have been reluctant to issue new diplomas, • POWER OF ATTORNEY •
discrimination did not include transgender people. GEDs or transcripts to graduates upon request. n • PRE-NUP AGREEMENTS•
Nuelle said it’s up to Congress and not the Supreme 215-627-8200 PA
Court to change that. Reporting via Associated Press
302-777-2201 DE
521 S. 2ND ST., PHILA., PA
OUT MONEY from page 13 rately registered independent investment advisor, please note that APPT. ALSO AVAIL IN DE & NJ
1Source: DST Systems, Inc., based on data from Standard & LPL Financial LLC is not an affiliate of and makes no represen-
Poor’s. Volatility is measured by standard deviation. Standard tation with respect to such entity.
deviation is a historical measure of the variability of returns Because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by DST
relative to the average annual return. If a portfolio has a high Systems Inc. or its sources, neither Wealth Management Systems
standard deviation, its returns have been volatile. A low standard Inc. nor its sources guarantees the accuracy, adequacy, com-
deviation indicates returns have been less volatile. Past perfor- pleteness or availability of any information and is not responsible
mance is no guarantee of future results. for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the
use of such information. In no event shall DST Systems Inc. be
2Source: It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Index liable for any indirect, special or consequential damages in con-
performance does not reflect the effects of investing costs and nection with subscribers’ or others’ use of the content.
taxes. Actual results would vary from benchmarks and would
likely have been lower. Past performance is not a guarantee of © 2019 DST Systems, Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part pro-
future results hibited, except by permission. All rights reserved.
This article was prepared with the assistance of DST Systems
Inc. The opinions voiced in this material are for general infor- *As reported by Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2019,
mation only and are not intended to provide specific advice or based on total revenues.
recommendations for any individual. This communication is not **Award based on 10 objective criteria associated with providing
intended to be tax advice and should not be treated as such. We quality services to clients such as credentials, experience, and
suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified assets under management among other factors. Wealth managers
tax or legal advisor. Please consult me if you have any questions. do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of
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18 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 PGN

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20 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 PGN

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Organizations across Pennsylvania, country take action for

National Suicide Prevention Month
we’re focused on the unfortunate tragedy that’s occurring ture segments on mental health and suicide prevention.
BY LAURA SMYTHE in our community and … how suicide affects so many They will also include personal narratives from celebrities
laura@epgn.com lives, especially those of our kids and most especially as well as mental health professionals.
those of our LGBTQ youth.” According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 20
While suicide is the second-leading cause of death To help combat the high rates of youth suicide, Graham percent of adults in the U.S. experience mental illness each
among young people ages 10-24, LGB young people seri- said it’s important for people to be able to recognize warn- year. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death overall in
ously consider suicide at almost three times the rate of their ing signs: self-isolation, hopelessness, mood swings with the country.
heterosexual peers. aggressive tendencies, dramatic mood improvement that “It’s time that we put as much attention on mental
Among the adult trans population, 40 percent of people could signal accepting a “way out“ and changes to eating health as we do physical health,” Christine Moutier, chief
report having attempted suicide. More than 90 percent of and sleeping patterns. medical officer at The American Foundation for Suicide
these folks indicate the attempts took place before age 25. “We have to take advantage of the fact that our kids Prevention, said in a statement. “It’s my hope that by shar-
September marks National Suicide Prevention Month, spend a majority of their time in school, so using the ing real stories of hope, healing and recovery through ‘I’m
and both local organizations and those across the country school setting as a medium to provide this type of educa- Listening,’ we can help others feel empowered to share
have kicked off efforts to raise awareness about the issue tion and preventive work is important,” she added to PGN. more authentically and support one another in opening up,
and spread the word of available resources. “Making sure that we put federal funding into counseling reaching out for help and getting to treatment, if needed.”
Entercom, one of the two largest radio broadcasters in services within schools, because often teachers and admin- In addition to local LGBTQ organizations, including
the United States, announced Tuesday a two-hour live, istrators are aware when kids are struggling.” Devereux, William Way LGBT Health Center and Mazzoni
commercial-free broadcast special, “I’m Listening,” that At Entercom, the station’s LGBTQ talk radio network Center, national resources available to those experiencing
aims to raise awareness around mental health. The stream CHANNEL Q will further extend programming related to suicidal thoughts include the National Suicide Prevention
will air nationwide Sept. 8 at the start of National Suicide suicide awareness throughout National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, The Trevor Project, Trans Lifeline and Crisis Text
Prevention Week, which runs through Sept. 14. Namesakes Week. From Sept. 9-13, all the channel’s shows will fea- Line. n
on the broadcast include popular music artists Lizzo,
Shawn Mendes and Tegan and Sara, out lesbian indie pop
performers.
Sara Quin, of the iconic LGBTQ music group, said
in a release that “identity and mental health are intrinsi-
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Foundation, which fights for health, economic justice and
representation for LGBTQ girls and women.
“Some of the staggering statistics surrounding queer peo-
ple and mental health, we hope that by talking about some
of our experiences as young people, that it will encourage
others to do the same,” she added in the release.
Dr. Yolanda Graham is the senior vice president and chief
clinical and medical officer at national health care nonprofit
Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, which has a center
in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Graham said she often sees this
dual stigmatization in her work at the center, which adopted
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22 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
ACT UP moves one-day conference for HIV-positive QTPOC to February
BY LEO CALDWELL
PGN Contributor
The Community Control of Health con-
ference hosted by ACT UP Philadelphia
was moved from August 31 to February 8.
ACT UP Philadelphia Organizer Jose de
Marco said the date change was to ensure
the conference drew larger numbers. “This
is a discussion about community-controlled
health care and you need the majority of the
community there to have that discussion.”
He said that the projected turn out was not
as big as he had hoped, likely due to Labor
Day.
The free one-day conference for HIV-
positive QTPOC will provide “space to
discuss issues and concerns that center
the individual and collective experiences
of people living with HIV/AIDS who are
International
Second French game in
three days halted after
homophobic banners
A second French league game in three
days was interrupted due to banners deemed
homophobic as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)
beat Metz 2-0 Aug. 30.
Referee Frank Schneider stopped the
game briefly after the banners were
unfurled in the first half. He then allowed
play to resume some minutes later when
they were removed.
The latest incident came after an Aug. 28
game between Nice and Marseille, also in
the top tier, was halted for several minutes
after Nice fans unfurled two banners with
homophobic messages.
Metz fans appeared to be responding to
that incident by targeting the French league
(LFP), showing a banner saying, “I won’t
be on TV because my words are not very
gay.”
More banners referenced the 2022 World
Cup in Qatar. Homosexuality is illegal in
Qatar, which has links to PSG through
TRANS HEALTHCARE from page 6
“I navigate a little better than the average
trans person because I work in the insur-
ance industry. I’ve helped people navigate
what will be covered and how to get things
covered. If I’m having this trouble, I can
imagine what others are going through,”
Rodriquez said.
Rodriquez said he is actively looking
PGN
Black and Brown.”
ACT UP is an international diverse and
nonpartisan group committed to ending
the AIDS crisis through direct action with
a chapter locally and in Boston, Chicago,
New York and several other cities.
The conference includes several other
organizations such as the Black and
Brown Workers Co-op and Gran Varones.
Workshops will be offered that “provide
information and present concepts that inter-
rogate how white supremacy shows up in
the healthcare/medical systems and how
the monetization of illness stifles radical
approaches to ending the epidemic.”
A 2015 study by the American Public
Health Association indicated that “implicit
bias was significantly related to patient–
provider interactions, treatment decisions,
treatment adherence, and patient health
outcomes. Most health care providers
owner Qatar Sports Investments.
The LFP is attempting to cut out
homophobic chanting at games. Earlier
this month, a referee stopped a second-di-
vision match between Nancy and Le Mans
for about a minute after an initial appeal
made over the speakers to stop homophobic
chanting failed to have an effect.
Japanese woman sues after
boss outs her as transgen-
der to colleagues
A Japanese woman has filed a lawsuit
against the Osaka hospital where she works
after her boss revealed to colleagues that
she is transgender.
She is now demanding the hospital oper-
ator pay 12 million yen ($113,000) for the
“undue emotional distress” she suffered as
a result.
According to the lawsuit submitted to
the Osaka District Court on August 30, the
woman, who is not named, was assigned
male at birth but identified as a woman
from a young age.
She underwent gender affirming sur-
gery when she was in her 20s and legally
changed her gender to female in 2004.
Now in her 40s, she began working at
the hospital in 2013 and was urged by her
boss to disclose her birth-assigned gender
to colleagues.
She told her superior that it was unnec-
essary to reveal this information as she had
for a new general practitioner with greater
availability. Living in South Jersey, he is
willing to travel for care but only recently
found one practice, PROUD Family Health
in Somerville, NJ, under three hours away.
Liz Anastasi-Scott, a 42-year-old trans
woman living in Philadelphia, has also
recently moved her care from Mazzoni to a
new practice. “I’ve been with Mazzoni three
appear to have an implicit bias in terms of
positive attitudes toward Whites and nega-
tive attitudes toward people of color.”
An Act Up committee that shares the
same name as the conference aims to
create a “patient-first and patient-vote
model of care.” De Marco explained that
a “patient-center and patient-vote care
model” means that a patient gets a say in
and control over their health care. When a
patient seeks treatment, they should know
all available options and have the free-
dom to decide from a variety of treatments
including ancestor remedies and comple-
mentary therapies. Instead of coming in
and receiving medication, the doctor or
care provider should be transparent, giving
the patient a choice in care.
De Marco said this model would also
give patients access to personal health
information. De Marco provided an anec-
already officially changed her gender on
her family register. But her boss reportedly
ignored her wishes and told colleagues
without her consent.
She claimed she was later harassed by
colleagues, with one person telling her “it
feels gross” to get changed in the same
room with her.
The backlash caused significant emo-
tional distress and the plaintiff reportedly
attempted suicide in February 2019, result-
ing in a serious injury.
The lawsuit alleges that the hospital
operator failed to educate employees on
transgender issues and violated a law oblig-
ing companies to maintain a safe working
environment.
Lawmakers OK same-
sex marriage in Mexico’s
Oaxaca state
Lawmakers in the southern Mexico
state of Oaxaca have approved changing
the civil code to authorize same-sex mar-
riage.
A statement from the state congress
says marriage will now be defined as a
“civil contract celebrated between two
persons, who unite to realize a life in
common and provide each other respect,
equality and mutual help.”
With the Aug. 28 vote, about 20 of
Mexico’s 31 states plus Mexico City have
codified same-sex marriage into law.
and a half years and just recently switched
to Rittenhouse Women’s Wellness Center
because of the inability to get an appoint-
ment,” said Anastasi-Scott.
She began going to Mazzoni when she
started her transition and needed more spe-
cific trans-related care such as hormones.
She felt like the doctors there were collabo-
rative and open to the patient guiding their
dote about a Black HIV-positive man who
had 14 vials of blood drawn during a visit
to the doctor, and when he asked why so
many vials were needed, he was told if he
didn’t get the blood drawn, he wouldn’t
receive his medication. The committee and
conference seek to empower patients in
these types of situations.
De Marco noted that people of color are
the demographic most affected by HIV and
AIDS. In 2017, the CDC reported that Black
and Hispanic men had the biggest influx of
new HIV diagnoses — 9,807 Black men
and 7,436 Hispanic men received the diag-
nosis in 2017.
De Marco said the staff at HIV/AIDS
organizations should be reflective of the
communities they are serving. n
ACT UP meets every Monday night (except major hol-
idays) from 6-9 p.m. in the basement of Saint Luke’s
Church in Center City, 330 S. 13th St.
Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled previ-
ously that it is unconstitutional to ban
same-sex marriage; however, in states
where it wasn’t expressly authorized, it
has been up to individual couples to sue
in court for the right to wed.
There were confrontations between
evangelical protesters opposed to the mea-
sure and LGBTQ activists in favor.
Indian state bans unneces-
sary surgeries on intersex
babies
The South Indian state of Tamil Nadu
has issued an executive order banning
medically unnecessary surgeries on babies
whose sex is not clear at birth.
The landmark move will protect the
estimated 1.7 percent of people born with
sex characteristics that differ from social
expectations of female or male.
Most of these variations are medically
benign, but surgeries are regularly per-
formed to make intersex babies conform to
gendered social norms.
The United Nations has condemned these
“genital mutilations” 40 times since 2011.
The landmark move to ban them was
made in response to an order by Tamil
Nadu’s High Court, which states that inter-
sex children “must be given their time and
space to find their true gender identity.” n
Reporting via Associated Press
treatment, which she greatly appreciated.
But she said she doesn’t need as much
trans-centered health care now, and it’s not
as critical to continue at Mazzoni.
Trans folks often have to make the choice
between trans-competent care and local
and immediate care. According to Mazzoni,
some patients they serve travel up to eight
hours for an appointment. n

NJ TRANS PRISON from page 1
woman, being subjected to daily discrim-
ination and being verbally and sexually
harassed by prison staff as well as male
prisoners who have made lewd and sex-
ually explicit comments to her and have
even masturbated while staring at her.”
Borden said prison staff assaulted Doe in
May and blamed Doe for the assault. “On
May 24, she was assaulted by three cor-
rectional staff and she was blamed for that
assault and sanctioned for it. As a result,
she spent 67 days in solitary confinement.
She corrected the officers’ misgendering
of her, and she complained of being groped
under the guise of a pat-down search and
said she would be filing a grievance about
it. In retaliation for that, she was beaten
and subjected to disciplinary charges. She
was actually assaulted but she was charged
with the assault. The assault is horrific and
evidence of why it’s so dangerous to house
trans women in men’s prison. But since
March 2018, she has been daily discrim-
inated against and daily at-risk for physi-
cal and sexual violence. She has been daily
told ‘you are not a woman, you’re a man.’”
Borden said Doe’s impending transfer
to a women’s prison doesn’t end the liti-
gation.
QSPACES from page 1
“It didn’t work out, which was very
frustrating, but I wasn’t able to quit on it,”
she told PGN, adding, “I still probably get
about 10 emails per week from people all
over the nation asking for help or sharing
their stories, and it’s sad and frustrating and
compelling.”
This time around, Hofmann’s determined
to make her passion project survive. She
teamed up with MilkCrate, a Philadelphia
tech startup that launched in 2013 but
revamped its mission last year to build apps
that help nonprofits and mission-driven
organizations better engage their audiences.
The teams linked up in early 2018 to
begin chatter on the QSPACES app and
fully dove into the project this spring. The
partnership is a great fit that will expand
QSPACES’ reach beyond its initial attempt,
MilkCrate founder Morgan Berman said.
Hofmann’s technological needs aligned
with features the MilkCrate crew had ready
to go, including a directory, customizable
maps and a review system.
“In the case of QSPACES, needing to
have information at people’s fingertips
was crucial,” Berman said. “The ability
to source information reviews is really
important because of the kind of trust that
goes into the doctor-patient relationship.
We wanted people to feel comfortable
sharing their experiences, and being able
to do that on your own platform is really
important.”
Hofmann is covering much of the ini-
tial cost of the MilkCrate-QSPACES col-
laboration out of pocket and is exploring
options for sponsorship or subscription
fees for providers on her platform, which
Hofmann likens to a queer health care
“Yelp.” Providers can list their basic infor-
PGN
“The transfer is an important first step.
But the litigation is continuing, to vindicate
Ms. Doe’s rights. And we hope to change
the policies and practices of the New Jersey
Department of Corrections for all trans
prisoners. Our understanding is that most
trans people are not housed in accordance
with their gender identity. We know people
are improperly housed in other DOC facil-
ities and, potentially, in county jails. Our
understanding is that only two trans women
are at Edna Mahan and both of them have
undergone [gender affirming surgery]. It
has been DOC’s practice not to transfer
trans women to the women’s facility if they
have not had [gender affirming surgery].
Of course, that practice is discriminatory,
it’s dangerous and it fails to respect peo-
ple’s gender identity. And so we’re glad
that the DOC has taken this important step
in Ms. Doe’s case.”
Doe, 40, has worked as an EMT, a suicide
prevention counselor and a bail agent. In an
affidavit, Doe gave a firsthand account of
her alleged mistreatment.
“In each of the four men’s prisons I have
been confined at, I have consistently been
misgendered, otherwise harassed, and
made to feel at risk of physical and sexual
assault,” Doe stated, in the filing. “Like
QSPACES FOUNDER AND CEO CATHERINE HOFMANN
mation on the app for free or purchase a
$12 Premium profile that allows for further
promotion. Hofmann said she ultimately
hopes to work with the larger health sys-
tems across the city, like Jefferson and
the hospitals at Drexel University and the
University of Pennsylvania, to elevate the
services they provide to LGBTQ folks.
But the most important thing? QSPACES
must remain free for users, Hofmann said,
because when it comes to queer health care,
“You’re kind of playing catch up with your
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
each of the more than 500 days I have
now spent in men’s prisons, today I feel
vulnerable to attack, uncomfortable, and
unsafe. The daily reminders that the NJ
DOC considers and treats me like a man
exacerbate my gender dysphoria and cause
me fear, anxiety, depression, humiliation,
self-loathing and, at times, even feelings of
self-harm.”
ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol
Sinha expressed agreement with the deci-
sion to transfer Doe. “Our state takes
great pride, as it should, in being a leader
in protecting civil rights and promoting
inclusion and non-discrimination in our
communities and institutions,” Sinha said.
“Now is the time to uphold that leadership
role — and the law’s promise of equal pro-
tection — by ensuring respect for prison-
ers’ gender identity. The DOC’s decision
to transfer Sonia Doe is an important step
in getting there.”
ACLU-NJ Legal Director Jeanne
LoCicero echoed those sentiments.
“Sonia Doe has been subjected to
unconscionable conditions in men’s pris-
ons,” LoCicero said. “By committing to
transfer her, the DOC has begun to address
these harms. While the case continues, we
are hopeful that the DOC will act quickly
health instead of getting ahead of it.”
“Health insurance is expensive, health
care is expensive, and within the LGBTQ
community, you have a wide range of
socioeconomic statuses,” she explained,
adding queer people can be “locked out of
some job opportunities” due to discrimina-
tory responses to their gender identity and
expression.
A 2018 study by a team of medical
researchers in Boston found LGBTQ peo-
ple in the United States are about twice
23
to draft and implement policies that mean-
ingfully protect Ms. Doe’s rights and
the rights of other transgender people in
prison.”
Christian Fuscarino, executive direc-
tor of Garden State Equality, said he was
pleased with the decision to transfer Doe.
“We are glad she will be housed in the
proper facility,” Fuscarino said. “The New
Jersey Department of Corrections’ deci-
sion to finally move Sonia Doe to the
proper facility is welcomed. But the harm
against her has already been done. New
Jersey’s criminal justice system needs
significant reforms to protect transgen-
der people, including a clear policy that
guarantees individuals will be housed in
accordance with their gender identity. So
we fully support our partners at the ACLU
of New Jersey — to secure justice for this
woman and for all transgender individuals
in the criminal justice system.”
At least 21 percent of transgen-
der women confined in men’s facilities
reported suffering physical abuse while in
prison, while 20 percent reported sexual
violence, according to a national survey
by the National Center for Transgender
Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force. n
as likely to be unemployed and uninsured
than their straight peers. Additionally, a
2015 study found 80 percent of first-year
medical students expressed a degree of bias
against lesbians and gay people.
Nonprofit Lambda Legal has found half
of LGB people and 70 percent of the trans
community have experienced some sort of
health care discrimination, while 8 percent
of LGB patients and 27 percent of trans
and gender nonconforming patients report
being outright denied care.
Hofmann originally came up with the
idea for QSPACES when she moved to
Philadelphia from North Carolina in 2015.
New to the city, she struggled to switch
her health insurance and find a doctor she
trusted.
“I didn’t know anybody, so I couldn’t call
my friends and be like, ‘Hey do you have a
doctor you like?’” Hofmann said. “All the
internet searches could go on forever and it
was being discussed on Facebook groups
and it’s like, ‘Wow, why isn’t this easier?’”
Once QSPACES is operating success-
fully in Philadelphia, Hofmann said she
will work to bring the technology to
LGBTQ people across the country. The
MilkCrate team sees similar opportunities
for growing the platform’s features and
reach, following the launch for OutFest.
“Not only is it important for people
living in one city, but it can become an
important part of traveling, too,” said
Jim Blanchet, MilkCrate COO. “[In]
some places, it’s not always as apparent
as others where [you] might be able to
access a certain service, whereas if we’ve
developed a reputation and experience
for QSPACES that can be repeatable, it’s
something that can be spread and scaled
very effectively.”n
24 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 PGN
 PGN
FEATURE Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 25

ARTS & CULTURE

Docu study on
visually
impaired artists

PAGE 30

Q PUZZLE: PAGE 26 FAMILY PORTRAIT: PAGE 31 COMEDY: PAGE 29 COMICS: PAGE 27 ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS: PAGE 28

The Philadelphia Fringe Festival built its

name on raucous, outside-the-box produc-
tions unlike what audiences could expect at
traditional theatrical venues. Although the
event has become polished with age, a seg-
ment of Fringe performers and production
companies have endeavored to keep that
edgy, do-it-yourself aesthetic alive.
Director Elaina Di Monaco and play-
wright Haygen-Brice Walker are among
that cadre. The out pair of University of
the Arts graduates, who operate under the
collective name On the Rocks, have put on
a Fringe show every year since 2016. Their
performances quickly gained notoriety for
the freewheeling environment they created,
fueled by alcohol, unapologetic sexuality
and, until recently, a lack of air condition-
ing. Audiences have been required to sign a
waiver before taking their seats.
This Fringe will be no different. When
I met up with Walker and Di Monaco for
drinks at a Gayborhood watering hole in
early August, they were deep into rehearsals
for their latest venture. The title? “our Ouija
board, the games we played, the s—t we
conjured & the dead dude we hate-f—d.”
In other words, don’t expect “The Sound
of Music.”
The pair see themselves operating within a
tradition of queer outsider art, which is cen-
tral to their vision.
“We need our audiences to know that our
work is really gay,” Di Monaco said. “That’s
at the forefront of everything we do. Some
gay s—t will go down.”
Walker highlighted another element of
their overarching style: “We are deeply
influenced by horror,” he said. “And in terms
of vibe, we try to create a house party. All of
that mixed together is what you can expect.”
That description certainly tracks with
prior On the Rocks experiences. Their 2018
Fringe show, “WOLFCRUSH: a queer
werewolf story,” reimagined the traditional
teen thriller through the lens of forbidden
same-sex desire. It also spoofed the tropes
of small-town Southern religiosity, football
fetishism and barely hidden secrets. (Walker
hails from Virginia, Di Monaco from
Florida.)
“Our Ouija board” operates on similar ter-
rain. Although the pair were mum on details
during our interview — “I’m rewriting as
we speak,” Walker said, only half-joking —
the basic plot centers around a 10-year high
school reunion, which revives memories of
a tragedy experienced by a group of friends
during their senior year. You’ll have to see
the show to learn how the Ouija board fits in
— along with other topics name checked in
the promotional materials, including necro-
philia, celebrity ghost hunters and Destiny’s
Out duo offers queer horror, conjuring the dead
CAMERON KELSALL
CAST OF “OUR OUIJA BOARD, THE GAMES WE PLAYED, THE S—T WE CONJURED & THE DEAD DUDE WE HATE-F—D.”
Child band member Kelly Rowland. returning performers, including Barrymore
In early drafts of the script, the inciting Award winner Campbell O’Hare and local
incident was a school shooting. That detail favorite Jenna Kuerzi, and six newcomers,
was definitively scrapped in the wake of the some of whom are still in drama school.
mass tragedies in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, “It’s nice to have some new energy and
Tex. new blood, and to have these different kinds
of brains in the room,” Di Monaco said. “We
do have people who have been with us so
long that they understand all the phases of
how we work. But everyone, old and new,
“WE NEED OUR feels raw in a way that I’m excited about.”
Working with new collaborators also
AUDIENCES TO allows the duo to stretch their creative
KNOW THAT OUR capabilities. “We’re inviting people in so
WORK IS REALLY that we can write for them,” Walker said.
GAY. “Because a lot of these people are new to
us, I’m finding out who they are, and we’re
THAT’S AT THE creating roles that suit them. It’s really easy
FOREFRONT OF for me to do that for people we’ve worked
EVERYTHING with many times, because I know them, but
there’s excitement in getting to do it for the
WE DO. first time.”
SOME GAY S—T On the Rocks also find itself welcoming
WILL GO DOWN.” new audience members with each passing
Fringe Festival. “Last year, we were looking
at ticket presale lists and saying, who are
these people?” Di Monaco said. “We were
talking to people, and a lot of them were
“We’re not about shielding our audiences, saying it was their second or third show with
but there are some things we can get across us. To hear that from a stranger feels abso-
without reminding and traumatizing people,” lutely amazing.”
Walker said. Cultivating an audience has been an
Walker and Di Monaco view this produc- important element for Walker and Di
tion as a stepping stone for them. It will be Monaco. Although both have worked exten-
presented at the Asian Arts Initiative, their sively outside of the Fringe Festival — Di
largest venue to date, and will feature a cast Monaco is a sought-after freelance director,
of 10 actors. The company includes a mix of and Walker recently returned from a year-
| PGN CONTRIBUTOR
P h o t o : Se p h M cA n d r ew a n d W i l l i a m Ve n ce J r.
long playwriting fellowship in St. Paul,
Minn. — they feel an understandable loyalty
to the crowds that built their company to
what it is today.
“At various points, we’ve discussed pre-
senting work outside of Fringe,” Di Monaco
said. “But we don’t know if it would have
the same effect. And we love our Fringe
audiences. So we don’t want that to change.”
Still, both Walker and Di Monaco quipped
that after each Fringe, they contemplate
throwing in the towel. Yet it seems unlikely
the partnership will dissolve any time soon.
In fact, during the course of our interview,
it often felt like we were inside a draft for a
future production.
At the bar where we posted up, the bar-
tender and the only other customer got into
an escalating yet affectionate argument, their
Philly accents growing more pronounced
as their volume increased. Later, a different
patron, whom the same bartender described
as “flagged from every other place on this
street,” misheard a snatch of our conversa-
tion and started screaming at us about the
economy.
Walker chuckled and took a sip of his
tequila and grapefruit juice. “This needs to
go into a play,” he concluded. Maybe next
year? n
“our Ouija board, the games we played, the
s—t we conjured & the dead dude we hate-
f—d” runs from Sept. 13-22 at Asian Arts
Initiative, 1219 Vine Street, as part of the
Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Tickets can be
purchased on Fringearts.com.
26 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 PGN
Q PUZZLE

The Wilma Theatre goes ‘THERE’

ways. Then, when I saw work at Wilma, I
BY A.D. AMOROSI was struck by the experimentation, edginess
PGN Contributor and physicality of their shows. I dreamed:
“My gosh, that’s a place I would love to
Wilma Theatre’s entrée into the 2019 work someday.” Lo and behold, I was
Philadelphia Fringe Festival takes the words brought into the Wilma HotHouse company
of Lebanese poet Etel Adnan and crafts a at its 2015 beginnings, cast in Theodoros
world where ancient history and long forgot- Terzopoulos’ “Antigone” after a grueling,
ten memories merge with a contemporary rigorous and exhilarating workshop-audi-
sense of identity and currency. tion. In the middle of that workshop, some-
Co-founder and artistic director for Wilma, thing really clicked. I finally felt that I had
Blanka Zizka, along with visual artist Rosa found my wheelhouse. The work invigorated
Barba, angular composer Alex Dowling and me in a way that I had never felt before. I
the Wilma HotHouse company, find ways had found my tribe — a group of actors,
that the body and voice amplify the deep- some of whom I had admired for years as
seated meaning, sound and physicality found an audience member, all deeply invested in
within Adnan’s poems for the Fringe produc- this rigorous physical work, playing with
tion, “THERE.” the expanse of the human voice and seeking
Justin Jain, longtime member of HotHouse human connection through it all. I mean,
and an out Philadelphia performer featured who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
in the production said the team has created
“a fluid and symbiotic way of working.” Jain PGN: How do Rosa Barba’s oblique sets
gave PGN his insight into “THERE,” before complement Adnan’s theatrical universe?
the show’s September 11 premier. JJ: In the poem, Adnan evokes different
chapters of her life. This is sometimes men-
PGN: One might say “THERE” is Zizka’s tioned outright or it comes in the form of
return to the avant-garde. What do you tone and mood. We’ve banked on the fact
think? that many of the chapters of the piece have
JJ: The Wilma HotHouse is such a radi- their own energy behind them. We also
cal and exciting experiment, the likes of took cues from her work in how she moves
which I’ve never seen in my 20 years in from abstract imagery to the pedestrian.
Philadelphia. To have a regional institution The staging mirrors this dichotomy. One
hire a company of professional actors from moment we are clearly watching someone
Q Puzzle others
42 Rough stuff un-
8 Village People pro-
ducer Henri (1936-
41 Lorca’s guy
44 Tin roof animal of all walks of life, pay them, cast them and lost in thought, pondering existential ques-
derground 2019) Tennessee? fold them into the culture of the company tions, and the next moment, it is bodies in
Remembering 43 Fosse field 9 Closet-emptying 45 Ghostbusters
Henri is a luxury some theaters only dream of. space living the words in expressionistic
46 See 32-Across cry? role This allows Zizka, and us, the company, the ways. The physical world the audience will
Across 49 With mouth wide 10 Tough cleaner 47 Set boundaries privilege of working in a long term way on encounter when they come to the piece
1 Embarrass with open 11 Really queer 48 Like some pricey
many things: projects, workshops, shows, is one of imbalance. The stage is done in
porn, perhaps 52 Bites the head off 12 Burn on the rear items at Barneys
6 “Dancing Queen” of, perhaps of a steer 50 Britten’s “Billy techniques, training, personal relation- three-quarter thrust with the main playing
band 53 Hit the skids 13 Lubricates Budd” and more ships, etc. We’re able to take risks with one space being two slopes, kind of like a skate-
10 WNBA star Re- 56 Places for Dr. 21 Rifles 51 Village People another knowing the investigations will reap boarding half-pipe. It creates a sense of
becca Kerry Weaver 22 Plumbing problem song with a Horace rewards for everyone in the room down the movement, motion, agitation. Rosa’s contri-
14 Nephew of Donald 57 D.C. lobby group 26 Greek consonant Greely quote line. With this, Blanka has been liberated to butions all help to serve this vision.
Duck 58 Village People 27 Reproduced with- 53 “Queen Chris- really go far in her capacity and capabilities
15 Jacques of song song about the Big out sex, for short tina” star of both exploring with us and in making PGN: How were HoutHosue performers
16 Doctor Zhivago Apple 28 Teacher in “The 54 Rehoboth Beach bold choices in collaboration with our artis- assigned roles in this production?
17 Young girl of old 63 Steamed up King and I” setting tic sensibilities. I think the term avant-garde JJ: We’ve discovered the different voices of
comics 65 Muscle Mary stat 29 Soon, long ago 55 Aggressive sort
in American culture — at least in theater — the eight performers, plus four musicians,
18 Cotton pod at 66 Wet spot on a 30 Orton’s bathroom 57 Like a Piper in a
Tara blanket of sand 33 Butter portion fairy tale has grossly become synonymous with the through workshops. The line assignments
19 And others, for 67 Auction web site 35 Love yourself, 59 Anthem starter inaccessible, the bourgeois, the all-form-no- keep changing daily. However, sometimes
Caesar 68 Sailing the Pacific, with “off” 60 Voyeur’s confes- content. So I wouldn’t necessarily say that we serendipitously find threads between
20 Village People e.g. 36 “Aida” solo sion Blanka’s work has moved to that realm. On pieces depending on the actor speaking.
song with the line 69 Flaming queen’s 37 Religious splinter 61 Kind of jack the contrary, one of the core values of this There are some recurring images that hap-
“Everybody is a star” quality group 62 North Sea feeder deep investigation we are all doing together pen in the piece, and these have all been
23 They work under 70 Ready to be eaten 40 Acidity nos. 64 Head job? is about connecting more to our audiences, generated by Blanka, with additional input
5-Down 71 Choose not to to each other, to perhaps something greater from us. Again, this is a fluid process. We
24 Keanu’s role in come than the sum of it all. She (and we) are con- are still discovering our “roles.” Ultimately,
“The Matrix” 72 Not as many
stantly interrogating and challenging the it is just us, as the actors, living these mas-
25 Went down on
loudly Down vessels in which to unpack all of that. sive questions.
27 Big name in hair 1 Weight loss prod-
care uct PGN: How, when and why did you know PGN: What is “THERE” to you?
31 Elevator pioneer 2 Big asset that you were right for HotHouse? JJ: A contemplation on humanity, identity,
Elisha 3 Rita Mae Brown, JJ: Before moving to Philly, I came from history, ecology, war and love. Questions
32 With 46-Across, e.g. (abbr.) an adolescence steeped in dance — ballet, on who we are in relation to the other.
Village People song 4 Advice to a bottom jazz, contemporary — the works. I found Speculations on where we are headed. A
about invincible who wants to be on acting in high school, so I have always been search for truth and a hope for change. n
songs top? a very “physical actor.” My intersections of
34 Pockets stuffed 5 Dr. Kim, and oth-
these mediums was in musical theatre, so it “THERE” runs Sept.11-22 at The Wilma
with meat ers
38 Alt-rock genre 6 Name on a column wasn’t until college that I discovered tech- Theatre, 265 S Broad St. For tickets and more
39 “The L Word” and 7 Nags beat them niques and methods that took these inter- information, visit wilmatheater.org/production/
ests and brought them to the stage in new there.
 PGN
COMICS Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 27

A sapphic romance between two revolutionary writers

In addition, as the women exchange Her character is so transparent in her emo- Alas, “Vita & Virginia” is ambitious but
BY GARY M. KRAMER letters — they separate when Vita heads tions and desires, she rarely fascinates. imperfect. It takes an interesting tale of
PGN Contributor abroad; Harold is a diplomat and he insists Elizabeth Debicki is stronger, and suitably queer literary history and teases out the
she perform her “wifely duties” — Woolf mannered as Woolf. The actress makes the spirit of the women’s relationship, but not
The handsome romantic drama “Vita writes about “a dark pool of sticky water most of her character’s internal moments. its heart. n
& Virginia” artfully, if emptily, depicts closing over me,” (This text comes from
the true-life relationship between writers the author’s first novel, “The Voyage Out,”
Vita Sackville-West (Gemma Arterton) and published in 1915). It feels too on-the-nose,
Virginia Woolf (Elizabeth Debicki). especially given Woolf’s famous death by
Director Chanya Button co-wrote the drowning — alluded to late in the film
screenplay opening September 6 at the when Virginia stands by the edge of the
Landmark Ritz at the Bourse with actress Thames.
Eileen Atkins (who wrote the original play) The film has many scenes that feel over-
using the authors’ letters. The film is not stated. A couple of magical realist scenes
starchy like a “Masterpiece Theater” or where Virginia envisions ivy creeping
one of the stuffier Merchant-Ivory produc- indoors or an attack of birds (signifying her
tions. In fact, although set in the 1920s, madness) are overdone and unnecessary.
and featuring period costumes and cars, In one of the film’s more dramatic
it aims to be quite modern. The musical moments, Duncan effusively advises
score is decidedly contemporary. And the Virginia to let the “eye lick it up,” and the
attitudes about love, sex and marriage, are brain should be “watching things happen
deliberately ahead of the post-Edwardian without troubling to think.” This may be
era mores. Case and point: Vita and her a good approach when viewing “Vita &
husband Harold (Rupert Penry-Jones) are Virginia,” as it provides some gorgeous Gemma Arterton as Vita Sackville-West and Elizabeth Debicki as Virginia Woolf
first seen talking on a radio program about people in pretty clothing and decorously in “Vita & Virginia.” Courtesy of IFC Films.
their marriage and her masculine qualities. well-appointed rooms
It is positively scandalous, and very much doing things that do
in keeping with how the couple’s same-sex not require much
affairs were indulgences that usually drew concentration or con-
them closer. Until Vita met Virginia. sideration. All of the
When Vita first spies Virginia dancing talk between Vita and
at a party, the moment is rendered in slow Virginia about power
motion. Vita is driven by her attraction as and attraction does
much as she desires to be accepted by the not amount to any-
bohemian members of the Bloomsbury thing profound. The
Group, which includes Woolf’s sister, film observes rather
Vanessa Bell (Emerald Fennell), and the than feels.
gay painter Duncan Grant (Adam Gillen). When Virginia
Virginia muses about bodies, and observa- experiences an epi-
tions about relationships are made. It is all sode of madness, Vita
very properly improper, and some viewers is lured back from
may get caught up in the naughtiness. abroad to take care
Yet Harold is wary as Vita is becoming of her. It is around
obsessed with Virginia. He warns her to this time that Virginia
be discreet and feels overwhelmed by her develops her idea for
sapphic phase. Vita promises she won’t be her book, “Orlando”
tempted, but, of course, the opposite is true. with Vita as the fic-
“Vita & Virginia” spends much of its tional gender-bending
first half establishing the boundaries of the biography’s image
characters so it can break them. Virginia is and muse. This may
inscrutable and vulnerable, which is why be the point of “Vita
Vita wants her admiration. Vita is bewitched & Virginia” — how
by Virginia’s writing, which is thoughtful; this “collaboration”
her own work is more successful. Vita lead to Woolf’s great-
eventually offers a book to Virginia’s hus- est literary success.
band Leonard (Peter Ferdinando), a pub- But Button fails to
lisher, as a means of getting closer to her capture the essence
obsession. Meanwhile, Virginia, who is of it in the same way
grappling with her same-sex desires, and Virginia captures the
has bouts of madness, eventually finds a essence of Vita.
muse in Vita. The performers do
Button features many scenes that discuss their best with the
the husbands’ jealousies, arrangements in lackluster material.
marriages, as well as Virginia telling Vita, Gemma Arterton cer-
“You have as much of me as I have to tainly looks enticing in
give,” but these impassioned moments lack all of Vita’s splendid
emotion at times. By the time Vita and outfits, and she strives
Virginia settle down by a fire, in Knole, a at playing larger
country house, to kiss and caress, it is hard than life. But a little
to muster up much enthusiasm for them restraint or nuance
being together. might have helped.
28 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
entertainment listings
THEATER & ARTS
AGAMA, Festival of Indian Classical
Arts
A festival showcasing the rich
classical art traditions of India,
Sept. 6-8 at Merriam Theater,
250 S. Broad St.; 215-893-1999.
The Art of Collage and Assemblage
Philadelphia Museum of
Art presents an exhibition of
mixed-material works from con-
temporary artists through Sept.
2, 26th Street and the Parkway;
215-763-8100.
Chico Bean
The comedian and actor seen
on MTV’s “Wild ‘N Out” per-
forms Sept. 13-14 at Punch Line
Philly, 33 E. Laurel St.; 215-
606-6555.
Hamilton
The smash hit blockbuster
musical makes its Philly debut,
through Nov. 17 at Kimmel’s
Forrest Theatre, 1114 Walnut St.
St.; 215- 923-1515.
Harmonious Motion
An exhibition of fluid art by
Kelly Munchel, through Sept 8
at Twenty-Two Gallery, 236 S.
22nd St.; 215-772-1911.
Herbert Ferber: Form into Space
Philadelphia Museum of Art
presents an exhibition featuring
sculptures and related drawings
that Herbert Ferber (1906-91)
created during the 1950s — the
artist’s most creative period,
through Jan. 5, 26th Street and
the Parkway; 215-763-8100.
Horace Pippin: From War to Peace
Philadelphia Museum of Art
presents an exhibi-
tion of paint-
ings high-
light-
ENTERTAINMENT
ing Pippin’s pursuit of a range
of themes, from racial violence
and the alienation of war to the
serene beauty of his home in
Chester County, Pennsylvania,
through Oct., 2, 26th Street and
the Parkway; 215-763-8100.
Mimi Imfurst Presents Drag Diva
Brunch
Mimi Imfurst and special guests
perform 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept.
7 at Punch Line Philly, 33 E.
Laurel St.; 215-606-6555.
Nico Santos
The out comedian and actor
seen in “Crazy Rich Asians”
performs through Sept. 7 at
Punch Line Philly, 33 E. Laurel
St.; 215-606-6555.
#QueerLifePHL
William Way LGBT Community
Center hosts an exhibition
exploring how we use our
phones as a tool to record and
communicate our stories and
how, by sharing, we create a
sense of identity, expression
and, ultimately, an act of resis-
tance by refusing to be erased,
Sept. 13-Oct. 25, 1315 Spruce
St; 215-732-2220
Significant Other
Mauckingbird Theatre
Company presents a heartfelt
comedy about a gay, Jewish
man in his late 20s, searching
for a relationship and commit-
ment, through Sept. 15 at The
Drake’s Bluver Theatre, 302 S.
Hicks St.; www.mauckingbird.
org.
Young Frankenstein: The Musical
Walnut Street Theatre pres-
ents the stage adaptation of
Mel Brook’s classic comedy,
through Oct. 20, 825
Walnut St.;
215-574-
3550.
soul singing sensation, Mary J. Blige,
and legendary rapper, Nas, join forces
for The Royalty Tour which hits town
8 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Liacouras Center,
1776 N. Broad St. For more information or
PGN LISTINGS
EXPERIENCED: Luenell, the outspoken comedi-
an seen making a splash in the feature film
“Borat” and the Showtime comedy special
“Women of a Certain Age” comes to town
performing through Sept. 7 at Helium
Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St. For
more information or tickets,
call 215-496-9001.
MUSIC
Zac Brown Band
The country band performs
Sept. 6-7 at BB&T Pavilion, 1
Harbour Blvd.; 856-365-1300.
Brandi Carlile
The out singer-songwriter per-
forms, 8 p.m. Sept. 6 at Mann
Center for the Performing Arts,
5201 Parkside Ave.; 215-546-
7900.
Maren Morris
The country-pop singer per-
forms, 8 p.m. Sept. 7 at The
Met, 858 N. Broad St.; info@
TheMetPhilly.com.
Iris: 20 Anniversary Celebration
The synth-pop band performs,
9 p.m. Sept. 7 at Underground
Arts, 1200 Callowhill St.; 215-
627-1332.
Morrissey
The out singer performs 7:30
p.m. Sept. 9 at BB&T Pavilion,
1 Harbour Blvd.; 856-365-1300.
Of Monsters and Men
The indie group performs, 7:30
p.m. Sept. 10 at The Met, 858 N.
Broad St.; info@TheMetPhilly.
com.
UB40 and Shaggy
The ska band and the reggae
singer perform 8 p.m. Sept. 10
at Franklin Music Hall, 421 N.
Seventh St.; 215-627-1332.
Game of Thrones Live Concert
Experience
Music from the hit fantasy series
hits the stage, 8 p.m. Sept. 12 at
Mann Center for the Performing
Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave.; 215-
546-7900.
Outlaw Music Festival
Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt,
Alison Krauss and Gov’t Mule
perform, 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at
MAKING IT REIGN: The R&B/neo-
tickets, call 215-204-2400.
Mann Center for the Performing
Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave.; 215-
546-7900.
Meek Mill
The Philly rapper performs
7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at BB&T
Pavilion, 1 Harbour Blvd.; 856-
365-1300.
Streetlight Manifesto
The ska-punk band performs
7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at Franklin
Music Hall, 421 N. Seventh St.;
215-627-1332.
Babymetal
The J-pop/metal band performs
8 p.m. Sept. 13 at The Fillmore
Philadelphia, 29 E. Allen St.;
215-309-0150.
Judah & the Lion
The alternative rock band per-
forms, 8 p.m. Sept. 13 at The
Met, 858 N. Broad St.; info@
TheMetPhilly.com.
God is an Astronaut
The alternative rock band
performs, 9 p.m. Sept. 13 at
Underground Arts, 1200
Callowhill St.; 215-627-1332.
NIGHTLIFE
BEV’s Bitchfest
Drag star BEV hosts a night of
drag, 10 p.m. Sept. 7 at Tabu,
254 S. 12th St.; 215-964-9675.
NOTICES: Send notices at least one week in advance to:
Out & About Listings, PGN, 505 S. Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA
fax: 215-925-6437 or e-mail: listings@epgn.com.
Notices cannot be taken over the phone.
Gay Mis: A Parody Musical
Philly Fringe presents a musi-
cal parody of “Les Miserables”
Sept. 7-8 and 14-15 at Franky
Bradley’s, 1320 Chancellor St.;
215-735-0735.
Panic Trauma Sex Distraction - A
Disastrous Cabaret!
James Bradford hosts a cabaret
show featuring drag, comedy,
storytelling and variety acts by
performers in the Philly area
who are gathering to celebrate
neurodiversity in all of its many
forms, 8-9:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at
Tabu, 254 S. 12th St.; 215-964-
9675.
OUTTA TOWN
Appetite for Destruction
The Guns N’ Roses tribute
band performs 8 p.m. Sept. 6
at The Queen, 500 N. Market
St., Wilmington, Del.; 202-730-
3331.
Norm Macdonald
The comedian performs 9 p.m.
Sept. 6 at the Borgata Hotel,
Casino & Spa Music Box, 1
Borgata Way, Atlantic City,
N.J.; 609-317-1000.
Get the Led Out
The Led Zeppelin tribute band
performs 8 p.m. Sept. 13 at
The Queen, 500 N. Market St.,
Wilmington, Del.; 202-730-
3331. n
19147

Comedic duo repurposes the
phrase ‘queer bait’
BY CAMERON KELSALL
PGN Contributor
Something clicked when Rose Luardo and
Shannon Fahey found themselves placed on
the same comedy team at Chinatown’s Good
Good Comedy Theatre. Despite a 20-year age
gap and a generational divide, the pair knew
instinctively that they were bound to become
creative partners.
“We were encouraged to collaborate with
whoever was part of the collective, and a
few weeks in, I asked Rose to collaborate on
a sketch,” Fahey said in a joint interview at
Point Breeze’s American Sardine Bar. “Then
it became an-almost weekly thing. Then peo-
ple started asking us to do that specific bit on
other shows outside of Good Good.”
“That’s how we knew it was a thing,”
Luardo continued. “A thing that worked.”
Just like that, Queer Bait was born.
Since 2016, Luardo, 47, and Fahey, 25,
have created a rotating stable of sketches,
characters and shows that play to their unique
dynamic. A conversation with them, together,
is a wild ride that careens from cultural ref-
erences to wicked inside jokes to heartfelt
professions of affection.
“This is an intergenerational match made in
Hades,” Luardo said of their partnership.
“An intergenerational queer love affair that
isn’t actually a love affair — at least not in the
way that some might hope,” Fahey corrected.
Luardo described a “mom-daughter vibe”
between them, and that energy is notice-
ably present; throughout our lunch, Luardo
endearingly pushed food she didn’t want onto
Fahey’s plate.
The pair characterize their aesthetic as
“two parts performance art, one part clown,
three parts dance, five parts friendship, two
parts dress-up, one part queer, zero parts bait,
maybe another part queer but unsure.” (Fahey,
who uses she and they pronouns, is queer;
Luardo described herself as questioning.)
Whatever that arithmetic adds up to will
be on stage this September, when Queer Bait
presents its latest show, “Sterile,” as part of the
Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Performances
run from Sept. 11-14 at Good Good.
The style of the show draws on Luardo
and Fahey’s disparate artistic backgrounds.
Fahey, a UArts grad, has experience in
sketch, improv and standup. Luardo has
been performing standup for more than a
decade and has also worked extensively in
the performance art space.
“I think I’ve been doing funny things for
a while without realizing it was comedy,”
Luardo observed. “I just wasn’t calling it
comedy.”
“We both come from an art background
of sorts,” Fahey said. “That makes for a fun
balance.”
“Sterile” is the third show Luardo and
Fahey have created together. Their previous
two efforts, “Fizz Fountain” and “The 180
BPM Tour,” brought them success in the
Philly queer comedy scene; the latter pro-
COMEDY
PGN Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 29
Mazzoni Center
is celebrating
Mazzoni
clinic
Washington
West
Project
years of LGBTQ
LGBT Health & Well-Being Since 1979
health and Well-Being
SHANNON FAHEY AND ROSE LUARDO
LGBT HEALTH & WELL-BEING
gram has toured to New York and Chicago,
among other locales.
Open communication and affection are
key to their creative approach, according to Wellness
Fahey.
“Our process has gotten a lot tighter, but
it’s very heavily friendship based,” Fahey
said. “We used to joke that when we would
spend at least two hours talking about life,
processing and sharing, before the mate-
rial came to life in the last hour. It’s still a
part of our process, and it does show up in
our work in the way that our characters are
1348 Bainbridge Street
self-actualized.” 215-563-0652 mazzonicenter.org LGBTQ HEALTH AND WELL BEING
You will have to buy a ticket to learn
exactly what Luardo and Fahey have up
their sleeves this Fringe. Their work fre-
quently uses autonomous sensory meridian
response, also known as ASMR, as an aspect
of performance art. They also refuse to shy
away from topics that might make certain
audiences uncomfortable.
“I love having to work to win an audience
over,” Luardo said. “My favorite is when
there’s a turn. You start out with a firm no,
and by the end, the audience wants you to
come over to their house for dinner.”
“A lot of our stuff takes a second to
digest,” Fahey observed. “But once the audi-
ence digests it, they want to keep s—ting it
out forever.”
“I think it comes down to the fact that
we’re really sincere,” Luardo continued.
“There’s no point when we’re not giving you
3000 percent, trying to get people to come
along with us.”
Luardo and Fahey also recognize the his-
torical weight of their group’s name, which
they use in a sense of reclamation.
“When I was in middle school, ‘queer
bait’ was a pretty pejorative term that was
shouted at me and my friends,” Luardo said.
“It was a nasty little term, and I thought we
should turn this s—t around.”
“We’re taking it back,” Fahey asserted.
“And that’s how it came to be.” n
“Sterile” runs from Sept. 11-14 at Good
Good Comedy Theatre, 215 N. 11th Street, as
part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Tickets
and information can be found at goodgoodcom-
edy.com.
30 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
A remarkable
docu study of visually impaired artists
GARY M. KRAMER | PGN CONTRIBUTOR
Out gay writer-director Rodney Evans’
extraordinary documentary “Vision Portraits,”
juxtaposes his experiences as a visually-im-
paired filmmaker with three other low-vision/
blind artists: photographer John Dugdale,
dancer Kayla Hamilton, and writer Ryan
Knighton.
Opening September 6 at the Ritz at the
Bourse, his film investigates how and why
blindness is not limiting for these artists.
More importantly, “Vision Portraits” never
gives in to the “super-crip” trope that insists
its subjects are inspirational or that Evans is
making a hagiography.
The filmmaker, who currently teaches
digital production and other classes at
Swarthmore College, has retinitis pigmen-
tosa, which causes retinal deterioration. He
met with PGN during last month’s Black Star
Film Festival and explained that he originally
thought his own story would be more of a
framing device or an entry point to the doc-
umentary.
“I wanted to talk about my condition and
experiences at the beginning and what led
me to explore the creative processes of these
blind or severely visually-impaired artists.
What did I hope to glean from them from
having a dialogue and looking at their artistic
process?”
R YA N K N I G H T O N
PGN
FILM
JOHN DUGDALE
Evans’ ultimate decision to include himself
in the film was not solipsistic or navel gazing,
but critical. And it came about organically.
He said, “I shared a lot of experiences they
went through. I know what it’s like to walk
around with a red-and-white cane. I know the
pros and cons and stigmas attached to that. I
know what it’s like to pass for fully sighted
for as long as possible — or until it becomes
completely impossible.”
He continued, “That was important to
acknowledge. [I] wasn’t some fully-sighted,
able-bodied person coming in and doing a
story on this community. I was someone from
within the community that they trusted.”
Evans’ goal when making the film was to
“paint a multi-dimensional, nuanced portrait
of each person” and assess “what it takes for
an artist to find their voice within a piece.”
He had read Ryan Knighton’s book
“Cockeyed: A Memoir of Blindness,” and
found it “profoundly moving and impactful.”
(Knighton is also diagnosed with retinitis
pigmentosa). Evans knew John Dugdale, a
gay, HIV+ photographer, who went nearly
blind because of CMV retinitis (an AIDS-
related infection). The filmmaker recalled
that Dugdale was reluctant to be in “Vision
Portraits” because he had bad experiences
with filmmakers in the past. But Evans
K AY L A H A M I LT O N
explained how he convinced him to partici-
pate.
“I showed him a diary film I’d made in
1998 where I talk about coming out within a
not-so-LGBT-friendly Jamaican family and
the difficulties of that. And because of my
vulnerability in that film, and the intimate
way that story unfolds, I think that led him
to trust me; that I was the right person, and
I would tell the story in a respectful, tasteful
way.”
­“WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO STOP
UNDERESTIMATING WHAT A DISABLED
PERSON CAN DO BOTH IN FRONT OF OR
BEHIND THE CAMERA?”
As for Kayla Hamilton, Evans was looking
for a woman, visually impaired, dancer of
color, preferably African American, because
he wanted dance to be a part of the film. He
found Hamilton through a colleague and was
able to film rehearsals and performances of
her first solo dance piece, “Nearly Sighted”
for the film.
“All of the artists have their own specific
ways of dealing with blindness as subject
matter or controlling the viewer or audience
member’s experience of how they see their
artwork. For Kayla, who only has vision in
one eye, that was really important.” Hamilton
asks the audience at her solo show to wear
eye patches to see the dance from her per-
spective.
The filmmaker deliberately, and creatively,
uses black screens, irises and blurred or
obscured images to force viewers of “Vision
Portraits” to understand what low-vision
or blindness is like for the film’s subjects.
These techniques never become gimmicky.
They give the audience a perspective to see
and experience what the subjects recount
for themselves. For example, when John
Dugdale describes his vision as being like the
“aurora borealis,” Evans layers super-8 film
stock rolling out along with flares and other
abstract color washes to represent that image.
Evans explained, “Whenever we could
convey visually, in a visceral way, what the
character was talking about, we would do it.
So when I’m on the subway and the periphery
is blacked out, or made more abstracted and
you see the center really clearly, it’s import-
ant for the audience to see that that was my
point of view and how that differs from the
fully-sighted person’s perspective, which was
cut to later.”
Likewise, Evans and his cinematographer
— Evans had two for the film — would
hold magnifying glasses over Ryan’s book
of poetry and shift the focus so words would
come into focus or be obscured by light to
convey his experience on stage trying (and
failing) to pass as a sighted poet.
On the subject of passing, Evans remarked
that he came out (in the film) as visually
impaired because, “It started to feel disingen-
uous to not acknowledge that I had a shared
experience with these specific individuals.”
He added, “It was a relief, frankly, because
there was so much miscommunication and
wrongly interpreted signals that put me in
a dangerous position. If I’m commuting to
Philadelphia for my job, and I’m going
through [New York’s] Penn station and as
a young Black man, I’m bumping into 12
people, that is apt to be perceived as a hostile,
aggressive act. But If I’m using a red-and-
white cane, that immediately diffuses the
situation.”
That said, Evans indicates that his cane
should not be seen as something that prevents
him from being self-sufficient. After all, he
did make the impressive “Vision Portraits”
from scratch over five years with very little
money.
When asked about finding a partner and
navigating a relationship (something he men-
tions in the film), Evans demurs, “I’m quite
independent, self-sufficient and able to take
care of myself. It’s about what that red-and-
white cane signifies to other people, and how
it’s looked at within the gay community,
which can be hung up on physical perfection
as opposed to knowing someone’s personality
RODNEY EVANS
DIRECTOR OF “VISION PORTRAITS”
and what they are passionate about. You don’t
want to be saddled with a lot of those stigmas.
But it makes it challenging, to be in a really
dark bar, where it’s so dark you can’t see any-
one. Where are the spaces that are accessible
to people who are not able-bodied or have
some form of disability, that they have chosen
to disclose or not, or are visible or not?”
Evans adds, “One in four people identify as
having a disability in this country but 0.2 per-
cent of characters in film are represented with
a disability. There’s this huge gulf between
the lived experiences of people within this
country and what’s reflected back at them in
film and television. What does that erasure
perpetuate? What kind of fear, what kinds
of stigmas and misperceptions does that lack
of knowledge from accurate representation
and honest portrayals perpetuate? And what
does it take to stop underestimating what a
disabled person can do both in front of or
behind the camera?”
“Vision Portraits” is a powerful testament
to this issue, as well as Evans and other
vision-impaired artists. n

FAMILY PORTRAIT | SUZI NASH
Noel Ramirez: Generous to the nth degree
In the community, our ever-growing
acronym LGBTQAIA-plus can be impres-
sive and so are the letters that follow the
name of this week’s Portrait: Noel B.
Ramirez, MPH, MSW, LCSW, BCD.
PGN: Tell me a little about yourself.
NR: I was born and raised in Jersey City,
New Jersey to two Filipino immigrant
parents. I have an older sister and grew
up with a gay uncle who lived with us in
the house. He was like a third parent. I
didn’t know why he was staying with us,
but I later learned he was living with HIV/
AIDS and had been pretty much shunned
by the rest of the family. So without even
knowing it, I had a very queer life grow-
ing up, issues that were important to the
queer community were taking place right
in my house. He died when I was about
10, back in ’93 or ’94.
PGN: AIDS was very stigmatized and
misunderstood back then.
NR: Yeah, we don’t talk a lot about HIV
and AIDS in the Asian Pacific Islander
(API) communities, even still. So the past
10 years, I have been working profession-
ally in the HIV/AIDS community, and
I’m sure it stems from that experience.
I remember visiting the mothers of my
uncle’s friends who were also dying of
AIDS. Just listening to the conversations
that the grownups were having; they were
talking in Tagalog but still not saying
the words that they wanted to say. It was
interesting exposure to how language can
be taboo. One of the things that I love as a
social worker is helping people finally put
words to things without shame.
PGN: It sounds like your parents were
pretty progressive.
NR: Well, my parents are not perfect peo-
ple, but they are super curious and resil-
ient and through it all they tried to stick
to their beliefs that family comes first no
matter what, and that followed through
later to me as well.
PGN: Does religion play a big role in the
Filipino community?
NR: It does, but surprisingly, my par-
ents are kind of Agnosticky. My mom’s
a Catholic poser. There was a lot of peer
pressure for her to be involved, but I
remember her being pretty laid back about
it, and my dad was like, whatever about
religion. In terms of resistance toward
my queerness: much of it was because of
the trauma they’d been through with my
uncle. There was very little support in the
Filipino community, or in general at that
point, and they were scared for me.
PGN: That’s understandable.
NR: But mainly they were concerned
PGN
PROFILE
about school, I grew up in a working class
environment, my Dad’s a postal worker,
my mom did clerical work, and my dad
always said, “You don’t have to be a doc-
tor or an engineer, I just want you to grad-
uate college, to be happy and safe and to
do something that will get you out of this
place.” There was a lot of hardship grow-
ing up in that neighborhood but what a
blessing to have them; they didn’t micro-
manage my identity, and in the API com-
munity, it’s not unusual for the families
to be on top of their kids 24/7, pressuring
them to excel at academics.
PGN: What’s your sister like?
NR: We were allies as we both struggled
to find our place in the United States as
the children of immigrants. She’s two
years older than me and has been support-
ive from the beginning. She’s a teacher
now.
PGN: So you both went into service
industries.
NR: Yeah, we grew up in a family that
was always providing help for people. A
lot of new immigrant families lived in our
home until they could get on their feet.
Our home was a hub to welcome every-
one. I was moved, even as a young child,
by that commitment to service.
PGN: That was my grandparent’s house.
People would come from all over know-
ing they would be fed if they found the
Nash house.
NR: That’s so wonderful. I think it’s a
great privilege to be in a family that has
that type of service commitment. I’m hon-
ored to have been raised by people who
cared so much for others.
PGN: What did you think you were going
to be when you grew up?
NR: My dad was an electrical engineering
student, but he dropped out to come to
America, so I thought maybe that’s what
I’d do even though I had no idea what it
meant. I went to a business and finance
magnet school, but I totally wasn’t into
it. My first job ever was as a municipal
bond coder for Merrill Lynch. I was 16,
and I had no idea what I was doing. But
then I got involved with a group called
Sumisibol, which was a Filipino youth
group. Sumisibol means to sprout, and it
exposed me to a lot of cool older people
who taught us about the arts and other
things. One of them was a social worker
and it really intrigued me, so I went to
college and got a women’s and gender
studies degree and then a communica-
tions degree and then to graduate school
to become a social worker and got my
master’s in public health, and now I’m
working on this other doctorate.
Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
PGN: So when your dad said, “No pres-
sure, just try to graduate college and get
out” you took it to another level.
NR: I know, but I love to learn. Every
time I’ve entered a graduate program,
it’s become a studio for me to learn and
explore the type of work I do even fur-
ther. I just love what I do. I think it’s the
greatest honor to get to listen to people’s
stories — to get to bear witness and lis-
ten to their lives. It’s the basics of what I
do, being part of someone’s narrative and
being able to help write it if allowed.
PGN: So give me the short version of
what you do?
NR: [Laughing] Well, I have a couple of
side hustles because I believe in diver-
sified funding. For my full-time gig,
I’m a behavioral health consultant at a
local health center. I’m also a project
director for Public Health Management
Corporation, a lot of stuff in those veins.
I also teach at West Chester University
and Columbia, and I have a small pri-
vate practice. I feel so lucky. I’m 34,
and I love what I do; I’ve never chased
a coin. I’ve always been able to pursue
my passion. I have so many friends that
hate what they’re doing so this is really a
blessing.
PGN: How did you get involved in
Philadelphia Asian and Queer (PAQ)?
NR: I moved here from New York City
where I worked as a dancer in a gay
Asian nightclub. I was 19 at the time and
for a young, queer, Asian boy, it was such
a profound experience. We live in a world
that is centered on white supremacy and
the images of what were we’re shown
and told were beautiful were often white
bodies. So it was the first time in my life
where I felt that my beauty was centered.
I say that with the knowledge I have now,
that there were multiple things that were
problematic at the club: body dysmor-
phia and image issues, a lot of substance
abuse there. There were a lot of
colonial reenactments of
erotica, no shade to
rice queens, but
it could
be
31
problematic. But having said that, my
manager was Filipino. Having lost my
uncle who should have been my guiding
gay role model, I felt like the manager
played that role for me. There were a
lot of amazing Asian guys who were all
beautiful in their own way, and I really
came to embrace my sexual subjectivity.
My image of Asian masculinity before
that was very neutered, very asexual, but
there I got to experience various forms of
masculinity. It was a beautiful, somewhat
problematic but also transformational
experience. So, fast forward, I moved to
Philadelphia to go to Penn and expected
to find a visible API community here and
there really wasn’t one.
PGN: That’s surprising.
NR: Yeah, the racial tension in Philly is
real, and it felt like there was a Black and
a white community, which I acknowl-
edge, honor and respect, but it seemed
there was nothing much in the middle. It
was a real let down until I ran into some-
one who was organizing a group called
QPA. I started hanging out with them and
met some beautiful people. Eventually
that waned and I got involved in doing
direct service with AIDS Services In
Asian Communities (ASIAC), which
really opened my eyes to the various
types of Asian communities in and around
Philadelphia — ­ Vietnamese, Cambodian,
Chinese, Filipino, etc. — and how HIV
looks to them. It was a sad day when they
closed. So I’d been involved with different
API groups and met Matthew Wong two
years ago. He was doing an Asian town
hall event at the William Way Center, and
it was actually my partner, who is not
Asian, who told me about it. I
checked it out and there
were a lot of people
there. I was
imme-
PAGE 32
32 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
PORTRAIT from page 31
diately down for the cause and have been
working with Matty and PAQ ever since.
PGN: Tell me about some of the things
PAQ does.
NR: We do a monthly brunch at an
API-owned restaurant. The next one
is September 29 at Sarvida on Girard
Ave. [Laughing] The one thing that
really unites Asians is food, so we’ll
also be doing a potluck in October and a
Friendsgiving in November. There’s also
a monthly support group and, on occa-
sion, we’ll do a group outing. We’re in
talks with a club to do a new version of
the Jaded Lounge, and we work closely
with other groups like the Asian Mosaic
Fund and Fortune, which is a queer API
magazine, and we’re looking for more
collaborations. On September 22, we’re
going to be doing another town hall
meeting. We want to explore what types
of advocacy and services people need
and want in the API community. We’re
working with a national organization on
family acceptance to create literature
and programs for parents and families of
queer children. We have health and heal-
ing programs, all sorts of things, and we
want to get more folks involved!
PGN: That’s great.
NR: Yes, and we’re doing a whole series
PGN
of town hall meetings. The next one is
going to be about how we can serve the
trans and nonbinary API community.
We want to make sure the organiza-
tion is really inclusive and not just cis
men calling the shots. I mean I love cis
men and all, but I love community a
lot more. We’re proud and happy that
there seems to be a pretty diverse group
of people already involved in our pro-
grams, and we want to build on that.
PGN: Nice. OK, random question time.
Last time you went bowling?
NR: I love bowling! I used to be on the
bowling team in high school, but the last
time I went was with my colleagues at
the clinic. I’m not as good anymore, but
I still have decent form.
PGN: Any other sports?
NR: I’m kind of getting into running. I
signed up for a half marathon as inspi-
ration to get going. In high school I was
also on the crew team. It was ridiculous,
I only joined because the boys were
really cute. But it was fun to feel like an
athlete for a minute, and I have a good
lower body, so I did okay. It’s a good
sport to hide in because you work as a
team and no one can tell who’s doing
the most; there’s no star in crew. I liked
the anonymity of it.
PGN: Hobbies?
NR: I’m trying my hand at cooking, and
my partner and I love movies, so every
Friday we go see a new film. And I like
hosting gatherings at my house; it makes
me think of family to have people over.
PGN: I still can’t believe that…
NR: Once upon a time I got paid to
dance in a cage and would party until 6
in the morning when I can barely stay
up until 10 at night these days.
PGN: What’s the scariest thing you’ve
ever done?
NR: Falling in love. You’re vulnera-
ble and powerless in ways that are the
human condition. That or doing renova-
tion on the house! We’re in the middle
of it right now, and it’s terrifying.
PGN: A scent that makes you remi-
nisce?
NR: Though I find the company prob-
lematic, Abercrombie & Fitch has a
cologne called “Fierce.” In college all
the cute boys would wear it so it brings
me back to those days. In high school,
it was Liz Claiborne’s Curve for Men,
which you could buy at Rite Aid. The
fragrance reminds me of corner boys
and teen angst!
PGN: What movie makes you cry?
NR: “Moana.” Oh my gosh, I had a class
yesterday and showed it to talk about
the use of self, and the scene when she’s
demoralized and the grandmother comes
to her and says, “Remember who you
are...” — it always gets me emotional!
PGN: When did you come out?
NR: I knew I was into boys when I was
very young. I think my first crush was
Mr. Rogers! I was about 12 when I was
able to formulate the idea “I am gay,”
and then about 13 when I started coming
out to friends. America Online (AOL)
got me through it all, and my mom told
me I was gay when I was 15. I think
she got tired of me sneaking boys into
my room to “study.” She cornered me
in the house and said, “I know you’re
a gay!” and I was banned from bring-
ing boys home. Let me not play myself,
it wasn’t that many guys, but enough.
Both parents were very intuitive about
my sexuality. I mean it was pretty hard
not to figure out. But it wasn’t until col-
lege that I had an adult, very American
conversation with my father about it. In
Filipino culture, we just tend to accept
but ignore it, so our Americanized con-
versation went, “You do know I’m gay
don’t you?” He said, “Yeah, whatever, it
doesn’t matter to me.” And that was that.
PGN: Go pop!
For more information about PAQ, visit
https://phillyasianqueer.com. n
 SCENEPGN
IN PHILLY Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019 33

S U N D AY F U N D AY AT U B A R P H O T O S B Y K E L LY B U R K H A R D T

From L to R: Chris, Tom, Brian, Mikey and Tom Curtis, David and Jason

Curt, Donna and Anthony Bartenders Jason, Brandon and Evan Matt (Magnolia)

Anthony and Zachary Andrew, Seth and Joe Brian and Joe
34 Philadelphia Gay News www.epgn.com September 6-12, 2019
Out composer’s latest chamber opera looks at love’s relationship to social media
BY CAMERON KELSALL
PGN Contributor
Since its 2017 launch, Opera Philadelphia’s
annual Festival O has become one of classical
music’s most hotly anticipated events, draw-
ing aficionados near and far for two weeks of
innovative programming.
At the center of Festival O19 is the world
premiere of “Denis & Katya,” the latest
chamber opera from out British composer
Philip Venables. Performances take place at
the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, on the Avenue
of the Arts, from Sept. 18-29.
The 70-minute piece centers on the real-life
story of Denis Muravyov and Katya Vlasova,
whom Venables described in an interview
as “a modern-day Romeo and Juliet.” After
running away together in 2016, the Russian
teenagers used the streaming app
Periscope to broadcast a three-day
standoff with police, which ended in
their suicides.
Venables was attracted to the role
of social media in the story. “I think
it reflects our current relationship
to reality, to what’s real and what’s
not,” he told PGN.
Although the production — which
will be directed by Venables’ fre-
quent collaborator Ted Huffman,
who also wrote the opera’s libretto Composer
— is still in the development stages,
Venables said that it will draw on
PGN
MUSIC
elements of virtual reality, combined with the
kind of sensationalism viewers have come to
expect from media coverage of tragic, violent
events.
“The style of the piece is sort of a docu-
drama, with talking heads,” he said. “There
are multiple characters even though there are
only two performers, so part of the story is
how they shift from person to person.”
Venables is not afraid of setting compli-
cated, disturbing stories to music. Prior to
writing “Denis & Katya,” he and Huffman
adapted “4.48 Psychosis,” the final play writ-
ten by the late Sarah Kane, which indirectly
charts the battle with mental illness that ulti-
mately led her to her dying by suicide. The
play’s challenges include a text that does
not specify character or setting, requiring
the interpreter to make decisions on how it
should be presented.
Philip Venables, librettist/director Ted Huffman, mezzo-soprano Siena Licht Miller, co-creator and dramaturge
Ksenia Ravvina and baritone Johnny Herford. Photo: Dominic M. Mercier for Opera Philadelphia
Venables’ adaptation has proved an
unqualified success, with acclaimed stag-
ings in London and New York. During the
run of “Denis & Katya,” he will briefly
leave Philadelphia to oversee the opening
of a production in Germany. The success of
“4.48 Psychosis” has brought the Cambridge-
educated composer to the attention of many in
the opera world, including Opera Philadelphia
general director David B. Devan.
“We pitched David the old-fashioned
way by presenting him with several ideas,”
Venables said. “This is the one that clicked.
That’s how we got here.”
The investment appears to be paying off
already. In June, “Denis & Katya” won
the FEDORA-GENERALI Prize for Opera,
which provides a financial boost to produc-
tions in the development stage. The FEDORA
Platform infused the Opera Philadelphia pro-
duction with 150,000 euros, or approximately
$175,000. The win marked the first time an
American company received this top honor.
As is common in the creation of a new work,
Venables is taking a hands-on approach. He
will be in residence in Philadelphia for more
than a month — although he cautioned that he
likely won’t be seeing much of the city.
“We’re in rehearsal six days a week at the
moment,” he said. “But once we’re a little
more settled, and I’m over my jetlag, I’d like
to see some of the galleries and maybe have
something of an evening social life.”
When Venables isn’t traveling the globe for
work, he lives in Berlin. He came to Germany
more than a decade ago, and he relishes the
cultural and musical opportunities the city
has to offer.
“Berlin has three opera houses, and
Germany itself has more opera performances
going on than anywhere else in the
world,” he said. “Even if you’re
not going to the opera all the time,
there’s a sense of music all around.
And there’s a real sense of an artistic
community and collaboration there,
even when you’re not actually col-
laborating.” n
“Denis & Katya” will be performed
from Sept. 18-29 at the Suzanne
Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad Street,
as part of Opera Philadelphia’s
Festival O19. For tickets and infor-
mation, visit operaphila.org.

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