City gets extension in SEPTA case
The state Supreme Court recently granted an extension until May 23 for city attorneys to file an appellate brief in an antibias matter involving SEPTA.
SEPTA argues it should not have to abide by the city’s LGBT-inclusive antibias laws as it’s a state agency.
In August, Commonwealth Court sided with SEPTA, but in March, the state Supreme Court agreed to review the matter, at the city’s request.
City officials want SEPTA to be under the jurisdiction of the city’s Human Relations Commission, which investigates LGBT-related antibias complaints.
Several groups are expected to file amicus briefs in support of the city’s position. Then, SEPTA will have 30 days to file a reply brief.
Friars to stand trial in abuse case
A Pennsylvania judge last month ruled that three Franciscan friars must stand trial on charges that they failed to properly supervise another friar who allegedly sexually molested about 100 boys.
Anthony J. Criscitelli, 62; Robert J. D’Aversa, 69; and Anthony J. Schinelli, 73, are charged with endangering the welfare of children and criminal conspiracy. The defendants are former leaders of a Franciscan order based in Hollidaysburg. They allegedly knew that another friar, Stephen Baker, was suspected of molesting boys, yet failed to notify police.
Magisterial District Judge Paula M. Aigner held the men over for trial on all charges after an April 14 hearing.
Baker, who allegedly molested the boys in the 1990s, committed suicide in 2013, according to court records.
Judge orders county to file Milano records
U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois has ordered the Bucks County Clerk of Courts to provide all criminal records involving Richard Laird, who brutally murdered gay artist Anthony V. Milano in 1987.
Laird was sentenced to death in 1988 but he seeks a new trial, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. DuBois seeks to review Laird’s criminal records prior to deciding whether a new trial should be granted.
Bucks County prosecutors offered to photocopy the records and provide them to DuBois. But in a two-page order April 29, DuBois noted the records are “voluminous” and should be photocopied by the court clerk’s office, not the prosecutor’s office. He issued a May 31 deadline for the records to be provided.
— Timothy Cwiek
GALAEI awards postponed
The ceremony for the seventh-annual David Acosta Revolutionary Leader Award will now take place in the fall.
The event was originally scheduled for May 6. There was no word on the reason for the change.
GALAEI: A Queer Latin@ Social Justice Organization, the award’s presenter, has had several recent staff changes.
Former executive director Elicia Gonzales left in February. Deja Lynn Alvarez, who previously worked with the Trans-Health Information Project, left at the end of April to start working this month for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health
Health and wellness initiatives launched at Allentown LGBT center
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown launched two new wellness programs this week that deal with diabetes, injury and social isolation among older adults.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health and Tobacco Free Northeast PA both support the programs. Trained facilitators will lead each one: Diabetes Prevention Program starts at 9 a.m. May 17 and continues weekly for 16 weeks, and Matter of Balance begins 8:30 a.m. May 9 and continues biweekly for four weeks.
Classes are free to attend, but registration is required.
The programs were developed as a response to a 2015 LGBT Wellness Needs Assessment, administered by Bradbury-Sullivan, that found nearly 64 percent of LGBT people in the Lehigh Valley were interested in healthy eating strategies. Nearly 63 percent said they’d like to pursue active living strategies.
“With these new programs, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center is able to continue our important work promoting a healthy LGBT community,” Adrian Shanker, the center’s executive director, said in a statement.
Other health programs at the center include tobacco prevention, gynecological cancer awareness and HIV and STI testing.
For more information or to sign up for the health and wellness programs, contact Deb Miller at 610-347-9988 or [email protected].
Innovative business to receive $10K at IBA lunch
An LGBT business will be awarded $10,000 for its innovative practices at a luncheon hosted next week by the Independence Business Alliance, the Philadelphia region’s LGBT chamber of commerce, in partnership with PNC Bank.
The 2016 Business Leaders Luncheon takes place from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. May 13 at Hotel Sofitel, 120 S. 17th St. Tickets cost $74 for IBA members, $95 for guests and $750 for tables of 10.
The new CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, Julie Coker Graham, will deliver the keynote address. Mayor Jim Kenney will also speak.
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Zach Wilcha, IBA executive director, at [email protected].
Stonewall Sports among Elixir honorees
Mazzoni Center’s 2016 Elixir gala will honor Stonewall Sports and the Rev. Dr. Lorina Marshall-Blake.
Stonewall Sports, an LGBT athletic organization, has raised more than $30,000 to support local LGBT groups. Marshall-Blake is president of Independence Blue Cross Foundation, which was launched in 2011 to support healthier communities.
Elixir takes place from 6-11 p.m. May 20 at Lubert Plaza at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital at 10th and Locust streets. General admission is $165, and VIP tickets are $260. The money supports Mazzoni Center.
For more information, visit www.mazzonicenter.org/elixir-2016.
— Paige Cooperstein