Wolf signs executive order restricting state funds from being used for conversion therapy
Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order on Aug. 16 that discourages the use of taxpayer money and state-sponsored health insurance plans to be used toward the practice of conversion therapy in Pennsylvania. The executive order also dictates that complaints of insurance discrimination for care related to gender will be investigated, and ensures that state offices treat LGBTQ+ people with the culturally competent care they deserve.
However, the executive order itself does not ban conversion therapy in Pennsylvania. A state policy was implemented in 2011 saying that no state provider or mental hospital will provide, endorse, authorize or fund “any therapy or any other treatment designed to change a client’s sexual orientation, or modify a client’s gender identity or gender expression from those with which the client identifies.”
The Trevor Project, which provides crisis support services for LGBTQ youth and advocates for pro-LGBTQ legislation, announced Wolf’s executive order in a press release and held a town hall at William Way LGBT Community Center the day after the executive order was signed.
“It sends a clear message to LGBTQ youth in Pennsylvania that they’ve got the support of the governor,” said Troy Stevenson, senior campaign manager for advocacy and government affairs at The Trevor Project. “We dropped the world’s largest campaign to end conversion therapy. We have helped draft legislation and we help to do real grassroots organizing around the country.”
But some LGBTQ advocates are criticizing the executive order and the Trevor Project’s positioning of it as a significant change, claiming that the organization engaged in performative politics and promoted the executive order for the sake of checking a box for LGBTQ advocacy in Pennsylvania.
“Cutting off the funding to many of these practitioners is vital, I’m not sure how that’s performative,” he said. “This executive order is a step forward and we hope that it leads to the passage of comprehensive statewide protections by the legislature. Conversion therapy is consistently associated with increased suicide risk, and if this executive order prevents just one young person from being subjected to it, then it was worth it.”
TransWork collabs with Tourism DEI org to provide apprenticeships for trans people
In an effort to promote workforce development and economic growth for the trans community, the Independence Business Alliance (IBA) and TransWork is teaming up with Tourism Diversity Matters (TDM) to support its national apprenticeship program. The program consists of 600 hours of paid rotational opportunities in fields including event management, marketing, communications, public relations, sales and finance. The apprentice will be offered a full-time position with the program host at the conclusion of the program.
Tranwork, a program of IBA, is designed to boost access to opportunity for trans people in and around Philadelphia. The TransWork team connects trans folks to employers, and advocates for and supports trans entrepreneurship.
“The IBA and TransWork program are always looking for strategic collaborations with the end goal of uplifting our community economically,” IBA Executive Director Zach Wilcha said in a press release. “We can’t think of a better example of that than working with Tourism Diversity Matters to bring their already successful apprenticeship program which ends with a guaranteed job, and present it as a local opportunity for trans and gender nonconforming applicants.”
TDM is an organization steeped in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives that can address gaps created by ethnic inequality. As such, TDM facilitates resources and tactics for leaders in the tourism industry for the purpose of improving diversity and inclusion strategies.
“The program, originally launched in Philadelphia more than two decades ago, is returning home,” TDM executive director Greg DeShields said in a press release.
TDM has apprenticeship programs in Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis. In addition to expanding the program to Philadelphia, TDM will also start apprenticeship programs in Boston and Houston.
The apprenticeship program is scheduled to start on Sept. 1, 2022. As part of the program, IBA and TransWork will lead a sensitivity training session to make sure candidates receive the support they deserve.
Philadelphia Pagan Pride returns to West Philly
Philadelphia Pagan Pride Day returns to Clark Park on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The family-friendly event rings in the harvest and reflects an array of religious beliefs and practices from Paganism, Heathenism, Wicca and other practices. The event offers workshops and discussions on religious and cultural facets of different traditions, over 45 vendors, entertainment and children’s programming.
This year’s keynote speaker is Diana Paxson, an Elder in the Troth and in the Covenant of the Goddess. A frequent festival and conference presenter, Paxson has worked in kabbalistic ceremonial magic, women’s spirituality, Wicca, Umbanda and the Germanic Heathen tradition, for which she is best known.
Philadelphia Pagan Pride, Inc., cultivates Pride in Pagan identity via education, activism, charity and community.
“As the ‘Cradle of Liberty,’ Philadelphia is a most appropriate venue for the celebration of our religious freedom and our freedom of expression,” it says on the organization’s website.
The beneficiaries of this year’s Pagan Pride are Forgotten Cats, a nonprofit known for its “trap, neuter, vaccinate, return” approach to reducing the feral cat population in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland; Catadelphia, an organization that supports pets and street cats through community programs; In-Reach Heathen Prison Services, a program that conveys positive materials and messages to incarcerated Heathens; The Friends of Clark Park, which helps improve and maintain West Philly’s beloved park; and Bebashi Transition to Hope, which provides a host of medical and mental health services for Black and Brown people, run by Black and Brown people.
Philadelphia Pagan Pride is free to enter, but it is requested that attendees donate a canned food item or another provision that would be an asset to the event’s beneficiaries. Pagan Pride will take place at Clark Park B, located at 4301 Chester Ave. in Philadelphia.