Job fair held for youth
Q Spot will kick off its fifth year with its third-annual LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Fair.
The job fair will be held from 4-8 p.m. May 30 at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 3535 Market St., on the 16th floor. Youth will have the opportunity to network with employers, schools, medical providers, social-service agencies and more.
The event will be hosted by Q Spot and Educational Justice Coalition, in collaboration with CHOP and Connect to Protect.
Tea to celebrate trans women
The Colours Organization will host a social this weekend to celebrate and support local transgender women.
Spring T(ea) will be held from noon-5 p.m. May 24 at 1207 Chestnut St., on the fourth floor.
The event will feature a panel discussion on such topics as HIV, holistic health, spirituality and community-building, as well as networking opportunities. Admission is $5, and proceeds will benefit Colours.
— Jen Colletta
Voyeur case settled
A personal-injury lawsuit against Voyeur Nightclub was recently settled, resulting in the cancellation of a May 18 jury trial.
Kareem Bishop alleged that he suffered serious injuries inside the club in October 2013 when a folding table collapsed onto him. He allegedly sustained scarring on his forehead, cheek and lip, and experienced post-concussion syndrome, according to court records.
Bishop was seeking more than $50,000 in damages, contending the club operated in a hazardous manner.
The popular nightspot, at 1221 St. James St., has a large LGBT clientele.
Thomas M. Hinchey, an attorney for Voyeur, couldn’t be reached for comment.
L. Leonard Lundy, an attorney for Bishop, declined to comment.
Court proceeding set in Williams case
A pre-trial status conference in the Diamond Williams homicide case has been scheduled for later this month.
Williams was a transgender woman who allegedly was stabbed to death by Charles N. Sargent in July 2013. Sargent also allegedly dismembered her body with an ax.
Defense attorneys continue to seek a mental-health evaluation of Sargent. according to court records.
The status conference will be held 10 a.m. May 28 in Courtroom 1105 of the Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert St., with Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner presiding.
Sargent allegedly invited Williams to his Strawberry Mansion residence during the early-morning hours of July 14, 2013.
Sargent allegedly told police he stabbed Williams in self-defense, after she demanded a pre-arranged payment of $40 for performing oral sex, which he said he refused to pay because she had a penis.
But Sargent seeks suppression of his police statement, contending it was obtained under duress.
Sargent, 45, remains incarcerated at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Northeast Philadelphia.
Gay man must turn over health records
U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Schneider has ordered the release of Thomas Vandergrift’s health-care records dating back to 1997.
Vandergrift, an openly gay teacher, alleges that Pennsauken School District officials wrongfully accused him of child molestation after he advocated for a proper education for his autistic nephew.
Vandergrift seeks policy changes within the school district and an unspecified amount in damages.
School-district officials requested health-care records for Vandergrift dating back to 1997.
In a two-page order issued May 14, Schneider ordered Vandergrift to “promptly” release the records to attorneys for the school district.
The case remains in the discovery phase, and a pre-trial status conference is set for 3 p.m. June 4 at the U.S. Courthouse in Camden, N.J.
— Timothy Cwiek