Trans youth continues to seek name change
A Montgomery County trans boy continues to seek a legal name change almost a year after his initial petition was filed in court.
The youth, identified by his mother as “Aidan,” was 16 in September when Montgomery Common Pleas Judge Bernard A. Moore denied the name-change petition. Aidan recently filed a new petition under seal, which remains pending. A hearing is expected within the next few weeks before a different judge.
Molly Tack-Hooper, an attorney for Aidan, said the case is moving forward.
“In our legal brief to the court, we noted that one common trigger for harassment and violence against transgender people is when they have to present identification documents that show a first name inconsistent with their gender presentation,” Hooper said in an email to PGN. “And 51 percent of transgender students who are harassed in school report attempting suicide. The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education made very clear last week that federal law requires schools to treat students in accordance with their gender identities and safeguard the well-being of transgender students. We hope the court will embrace that same spirit of acceptance and grant Aidan the name change he so badly wants and needs.”
City pushes for dismissal of cop suit
City officials last month filed a lengthy legal pleading in the case of Detective Kenneth Rossiter, who claims he was fired from the Philadelphia police force due to his union membership.
Rossiter, who’s investigated several LGBT-related murder cases, was fired in July 2012. But an arbitrator ordered him reinstated nine months later, with full back pay and benefits.
Then-Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey publicly accused Rossiter of overtime abuses, when announcing his firing.
In a federal lawsuit, Rossiter claims his firing was retaliatory, due to his membership in the Fraternal Order of Police. He’s seeking an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages.
In December, U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh denied the city’s request to dismiss Rossiter’s suit. Now, the city wants the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss Rossiter’s suit.
In a 57-page appellate brief filed April 25, the city argued that Rossiter wasn’t fired due to his union membership.
Rossiter has until May 25 to file a reply brief.
Neither side had a comment for this update.
In 2007, Rossiter helped secure a first-degree murder conviction for Barry Mason, who shot to death Jamil Burton, an openly gay youth, after an alleged robbery in Center City. Mason died in prison in April 2015.
Hearing scheduled in abuse case
A hearing has been scheduled regarding a lawsuit involving Germantown Academy, which is accused of facilitating same-sex abuse against a male student.
“Joe Doe” claims school officials failed to stop abuse from fellow participants in a swim program. The alleged abuse of Doe includes being urinated on, having his nipples twisted in a painful manner, being kneed in the genital area and being threatened with anal rape.
Doe’s lawsuit was filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. But school officials recently requested that the case be transferred to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, since the school is located in Whitemarsh Township.
A hearing on the transfer request is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. June 13 in Courtroom 602 of City Hall before Common Pleas Judge Arnold L. New.
— Timothy Cwiek
LGBT-victim advocate sought
After grant funding got held up last year and two previous hires did not work out, Center City Crime Victim Services is ready to bring onto the team a full-time victim advocate to support LGBT people as they navigate the justice system and apply for crime-victim compensation.
The deadline to submit a resume is midnight May 20. Interviews will start in the coming weeks. The organization has about a dozen applications in hand, said executive director Sherry Hunter.
“It’s hard, number one, for LGBT victims to call the police because they don’t feel they’d have support,” Hunter said. “I’ve had a couple instances where victims come to us because they’re embarrassed, maybe their sexuality or gender is hidden from family and friends … I knew they needed someone to understand them.”
Hunter first announced the creation of the LGBT victim-advocate position in July. Center City Crime Victim Services received a grant through the Victims of Crime Act last summer. Although the funds came from a program through the U.S. Department of Justice, they filtered through the state. During Pennsylvania’s long budget impasse, the money was not immediately released.
At the end of last year, Hunter said she and her team liked two applicants for the position and decided to split the money they had between them, hiring Grayson Mitchell, a Chester County native who graduated from Mary Baldwin College in Virginia with a degree in social work and sociology, and Victoria Legowski.
Legowski moved to Arizona and Mitchell left for confidential reasons, Hunter said.
Hunter said the three-year Victims of Crime Act grant is now fully available as Center City Crime Victim Services looks to hire a new LGBT victim advocate. The nonprofit also plans to apply to renew the grant in 2019.
“The biggest thing is this is not a position to be an activist,” Hunter said. “It’s not to change laws. It’s a support position for the victims.”
She added activism is important work, just not within the scope of the LGBT victim advocate, who may attend court hearings with victims or help them talk to police or prosecutors.
Center City Crime Victim Services takes its name from its location at 13th and Walnut streets, but Hunter said the organization helps people from all parts of the city and nearby suburbs.
She added she hoped the renewed search for an LGBT victim advocate would also help the organization grow its volunteer pool to address the needs of LGBT victims.
For more information or to apply, contact Sherry Hunter at [email protected].
— Paige Cooperstein