Del. to celebrate Pride
The 14th annual Delaware Pride Festival will be held from noon-6 p.m. Sept. 18 at Cape Henlopen State Park in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
The festival will feature entertainment by American Idol stars Kimberly Locke and Frenchie Davis and singer Brendan Velasquez.
There is a $5 admission fee, and children 14 and under are free.
The festival will run a free shuttle to the event from the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center.
For more information, visit www.delawarepride.org.
Hearing wraps in trans case
Testimony concluded last week in the discrimination case filed with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations against a city department by a transgender woman.
Dawn Dalpe, who worked as a seasonal lifeguard with the city, is contending that the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation failed to protect her from verbal and physical harassment she says she suffered by fellow employees because of her transgender status.
At the commission hearing Sept. 8, a district manager for the city’s pools testified that he was aware there had been tensions between Dalpe and some of her coworkers and acknowledged that the problems may have been connected to her gender identity. A police officer who responded to an altercation Dalpe was involved with also testified.
Attorney Amara Chaudhry, who is representing Dalpe, said both she and the attorneys for the city will next file findings of fact, respectively, later this month. Once those filings are complete, the commission will begin deliberations and, if the commission rules that the city is liable, a damages hearing will then be scheduled.
Sale to benefit HIV/AIDS
Siloam, a local agency that provides comprehensive health and well-being resources to those with HIV/AIDS, will host a fundraising yard sale from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Siloam parking lot, at the corner of Brandywine and 12th streets.
Siloam is accepting donated items for the sale from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Sept. 17 and 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sept. 22. The organization is willing to make arrangements if items need to be picked up.
The group is also looking for hangers and clothes racks to be used during the sale and volunteers to organize and price the donations beforehand.
For more information or to schedule a time to drop off donations, call (215) 765-6633.
Candidate to hit Stir
Fern Kaufman, an openly lesbian candidate running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, will meet and greet supporters at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 28 at Stir, 1705 Chancellor St.
The event will allow the community to learn more about Kaufman’s platform and add their names to the list of volunteers working to get her elected.
If elected, Kaufman, who would represent Chester County, would be the first openly LGBT person in the Pennsylvania legislature.
Walk for AIDS in Del.
AIDS Walk Delaware will stage its annual event to raise money for HIV/AIDS causes at three separate locations in the coming weeks.
The first walk will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 26 at Rockford Park in Wilmington. Registration begins at noon.
On Oct. 3, walkers will set off at 2 p.m. from the Silver Lake Recreation Area in Dover and also from Grove Park in Rehoboth Beach. Registration for both walks begins at 1 p.m.
For more information, call (302) 652-6776, visit www.aidswalkdelaware.org or find the event on Facebook.
Mag to run HIV photo essay
Positively Aware magazine is calling for people to take out their cameras Sept. 21 and take a snapshot for an upcoming HIV photo essay to commemorate World AIDS Day.
The photos should respond to the question, “What does it mean to live with HIV?” and photographers can be both HIV-positive and -negative, as long as the photo illustrates how that person’s life is impacted by the disease.
Photos must be submitted by Sept. 23 to [email protected]. Selected photos will appear in the November/December issue of the magazine, and more submitted photos will be available on the website.
For a full list of requirements, visit www.positivelyaware.com.
— Jen Colletta