pgn Philadelphia Gay News LGBT NEWS SINCE 1976
Vol. 42 No. 21 May 25-31, 2018
Family Portrait: Nick Greiner has a very special father-daughter relationship PAGE 37
HONESTY • INTEGRITY • PROFESSIONALISM
The Senior Supplement relates thoughts on aging by our elders PAGES 16-21
Brian Sanders’ latest JUNK show is a performance event to die for PAGE 27
PA Supreme Court asked to consider what constitutes a parent
Subject of homophobic flier ponders legal action By Adriana Fraser adriana@epgn.com The former husband of 181st District Democratic primary winner Malcolm Kenyatta is weighing legal action after a homophobic flier featuring the couple’s image was anonymously distributed on election day. The flier, left on car winshields throughout the 181st District the morning of the May 15 primaries, displayed a red circular “No” symbol superimposed over Terrell Green with his former husband and the words: NORTH PHILLY and SAY NO!!!!! Green and Kenyatta divorced in 2016. “I don’t want to call anyone out without having proof, but I want whoever did this to be publically held responsible for spreading hate,” Green told PGN after denouncing the flier on Facebook. Green, who recently began working at Mazzoni Center, said a lawyer advised him to file a discrimination complaint with the District Attorney’s Office. If an election complaint is filed, the Election Fraud Task Force accesses the complaint and acts in accordance with the statute, said a spokesperson for the D.A. The Election Fraud Task Force was created in 2014 to investigate and prosecute allegations of election-day criminal activity. The task force is part of the D.A.’s Special Investigations Unit and is staffed by assistant district attorneys and detectives. Sheila Simmons, Kenyatta’s campaign manager, told PGN the candidate doesn’t plan to take legal action regarding the flier. “At this time, Malcolm will not be going after those responsible for the flier. He’s more focused on preparing for the upcoming election in November,” Simmons said. Green said he’s considering proposing a policy to City Council to protect people who are connected to public figures running for office. “There’s no room for bigotry,” he said. “We’re in the era of the ‘Time’s Up’ and the ‘Me Too’ movements. I have to stand up for myself.” n
By Timothy Cwiek timothy@epgn.com
MAZZONI METAMORPHOSIS: Decorations, wings and body paint brought to life the butterfly theme at Mazzoni Center’s fundraising gala “Metamorphosis” May 19 at the University of the Arts’ Dorrance Hamilton Hall. More than 300 guests attended. The gala pulled in $172,000, superseding the $152,000 raised at the last gala, which took place in 2016. Photo: Scott A. Drake
Mark Segal donates LGBT archives to Smithsonian By Adriana Fraser adriana@epgn.com PGN publisher Mark Segal has donated nearly 50 years of historical LGBT artifacts and memorabilia to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The collection, nearly two years in the making, documents Segal’s LGBT activism from Stonewall to today. Segal donated his personal papers to the Smithsonian on May 17 — approximately 17 cubic feet of journals, fliers, posters, letters and materials that chronicle political developments that cover the 1970s to the present. Segal also donated artifacts from his personal collection, including the first state-issued Gay Pride Proclamation in 1975, a donation can he used during the 1970 Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day march and his marshal’s badge from that event. “The significance of my work never really hit me until the ceremony. It’s amazing to know that my stuff is going to be near [Dorothy’s] ruby-red slippers,” Segal said at the donation ceremony May 17. The collection will be displayed in the Archives Center.
Katherine Ott, the Smithsonian curator in charge of sorting and gathering Segal’s personal collection, said that few activists have played a part in both cultural and political areas of American history. Ott, who identifies as queer, said the materials Segal is donating are an insider’s guide to most of the big LGBT issues of the past 50 years. Materials from the National Museum of American History’s LGBTQ collections date back to the 19th century. “It’s far easier to collect and talk about LGBT issues than it was even five or six years ago. This is almost the first opportunity to do this publicly because [the Smithsonian] has been doing it under the radar for decades and now we can do it more openly,” Ott said. Franklin Robinson, archivist for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, said that Segal’s collection is a key component to filling in the missing pieces of the earlier stages of the LGBT struggle. “This collection fills a huge gap in our civil-rights collection in telling the story of LGBT individuals into the modern era,” Robinson said. PAGE 6 Democratic Senator
A lesbian who claims she’s being unfairly denied parental status is asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to rule that an individual can be a parent even without adopting a child or having a biological relationship. On May 15, during oral arguments in the case of C.G. vs. J.H., plaintiff’s attorney Tiffany L. Palmer told the state’s highest court that such a ruling would strengthen the rights of all children born via assisted conception, including children born into LGBT families. The highly contentious dispute involves two women who lived together in Florida between 2001-12. In 2006, J.H. gave birth to J.W.H. with the help of an anonymous sperm donor. About six years later, J.H. relocated to Pennsylvania with the boy, and has since denied C.G. visitation rights. In court papers, the women disagree on whether J.W.H. was born into an “intact family” headed by C.G. and J.H. Pennsylvania’s custody statute doesn’t define the term “parent.” Courts have limited the definition to a person who is biologically related to a child or who has adopted a child. Since C.G. doesn’t fall into either category, two lower courts have denied her status as J.W.H.’s parent. J.W.H. lives in Centre County. C.G. wants the ability to argue in Centre County Common Pleas Court that she’s his mother, maintaining it’s in the child’s best interest for her to share custody. During oral arguments, Palmer told the court that J.W.H. was born into a family headed by C.G. and J.H. via assisted conception. “The child was born into a family and [C.G.] held out the child as her child after his birth.” Palmer reiterated that a clarifying ruling from the justices would be particuPAGE 15 larly helpful to LGBT