Do you think I’m saxy? PAGE 25
Family Portrait: Sarah Sawyers-Lovett
Start packing your bags for SisterSpace
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Aug. 16-22, 2013
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Vol. 37 No. 33
Philly’s only lesbian bar shuts down By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com
HOPING FOR A HOMER: Despite the Phillies continuing their Gay Community Night losing streak — which now stands at 1-10 — the LGBT fans enjoyed a night at the ballpark Aug. 7. Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia president Angela Giampolo (back row, left) was slated to throw the first pitch of the game but, since the requisite 500 tickets weren’t sold, Giampolo watched the game from the stands with fellow supporters like Franny Price (clockwise from back row center), Samantha Giusti, Micheal Ward, John Bobon, Chip Junod and Bob Tuerk. The event raises money for the Sean Halpin Memorial Scholarship Fund. Photo: Scott A. Drake
City pressed to sever ties with Russian city By Angela Thomas angela@epgn.com In 2012, legislation was introduced in two sister cities that would affect the LGBT community — in entirely different ways. Philadelphia City Councilman Jim Kenney introduced the LGBT Equality bill, the first in the nation to provide tax credits to companies that provide health coverage for transgender people, as well as for same-sex partners. And, Philadelphia’s Russian sister city, Nizhny Novgorod, passed a law banning LGBT “propaganda”; earlier this summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a similar bill into law, sparking international outcry. Locally, activists are urging the city to sever its ties with Nizhny Novgorod, Russia’s fifth-largest city. No decision had been announced as of presstime. Sister cities, conceived of in the second half of the 20th century, are meant to promote cultural awareness. Philadelphia operates Sister Cities Plaza at 18th and the Parkway to honor its seven sister cities. Progress Now and Keystone Progress launched a MoveOn petition last week urging Philadelphia City Council to suspend Nizhny Novgorod’s sister-city title in protest of Russia’s anti-LGBT climate. Similar efforts are underway in several-dozen other cities. “It was something that was generating response from people and PAGE 12 something other cities were encouraged to do,”
The city’s longest-running lesbian bar abruptly closed its doors this week. Citing financial difficulties, the owners of Sisters Nightclub shut down Monday after 17 years in operation. Sisters has been the only full-time lesbian bar in the city since its inception June 21, 1996. Denise Cohen, who managed the club since its opening, said in a Facebook posting that business owner Jim Ross notified her of the closing Monday morning. Cohen did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The building, 1320 Chancellor St., is owned by Mel Heifetz, while Ross owns the business. After a series of calls and emails, Heifetz told PGN he would not comment for this story. There is a sign on Sisters’ door that the building is undergoing renovations and will reopen in the fall, but it is unclear if the business or building has been, or is in the process of being, sold. Heifetz refused to comment on the matter. Heiftez purchased the three-story building on July 12, 1994, for $86,000. The city assessed the property at $70,400 each year from 2010-13, but that figure jumped to $746,400 for 2014, seemingly because of the city’s new property-tax evaluation. The adjoining building, home to the now-defunct Key West Bar, is also empty. Cohen said in her posting that there will be no closing party, and noted that sudden closings are not uncommon in the bar and restaurant industry. Response to Cohen’s Facebook posting was strong,
A SHUTTERED SISTERS NEXT TO THE ALSOCLOSED KEY WEST ON CHANCELLOR AND JUNIPER STREETS Photo: Scott A. Drake
with more than 200 “shares” by the next day. Cohen said on her personal Facebook page that Ross was equally upset when he shared the news with her. PAGE 8 “This is not something he
PA LGBT leader to speak at March on Washington By Jen Colletta jen@epgn.com On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., took to the microphone at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to change the world with his “I Have a Dream” address. Fifty years later, activists, including a local LGBT leader, will head to D.C. to commemorate the change that has happened, and the change that still is needed,
ADRIAN SHANKER (LEFT) AND MARTIN LUTHER KING III
since King’s seminal speech. Equality Pennsylvania presi-
dent Adrian Shanker will be among the speakers at the Aug. 24 50th Anniversary March on Washington, joining labor, health, housing, education and civil and human-rights advocates, as well as Congressmembers and President Obama. Shanker is the only announced speaker who works primarily for LGBT rights. The event is expected to bring a crowd of PAGE 20 500,000 for a