ARCHIVES > 2011 > JUN 08 ISSUE

NEWS AND OPINION

By Matt Petrillo

LGBT Activist Tackles Stereotypes About Gay Culture

Brian Sims isn’t running for office, but the 32-year-old lawyer is making politics his business, hoping to give a fresh look to LGBT rights by breaking down stereotypes and false perceptions that too often stymie the movement. Sims, a self-professed “professional gay,” who gets paid to tell his coming-out story at colleges around the country, says he isn’t trying to redefine what being gay means, but contends homosexuality is “an everybody thing.”

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Posted Jun. 8, 2011 | Comments: 0

NEWS AND OPINION

By Jessica Herring

RAGE Documentary Chronicles Fight to End SEPTA's Gender Stickers

Much like Rosa Parks, Charlene Arcila never set out to be a symbol for the civil-rights movement. In 2007, the transgender woman says she was denied the right to use her weekly TransPass because a SEPTA worker insisted that her gender did not match the “F” sticker on it. Arcila says she was harassed by the SEPTA worker and was forced to explain her gender identity. She refused.

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Posted Jun. 8, 2011 | Comments: 6

NEWS AND OPINION

By Tara Murtha

As Feds Debate Marriage Act, Couple Live Under the Threat of Deportation

The thrill and challenge of staying together through thick and thin is intense: Anton Tanumihardja, an Indonesian national, could be deported at any minute. He’s requested political asylum in the U.S. since overstaying his Visa in 2002 based on fear of persecution as a result of being gay, Catholic and ethnically Chinese, a triple minority in Indonesia.

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Posted Jun. 8, 2011 | Comments: 2

NEWS AND OPINION

By Aaron Kase

Gay Philly Cop Shares His Story

Philly police officers come in all shapes and sizes—and sexual orientations, too. Might seem surprising at first given what’s considered a macho culture on the force, but one openly gay cop says don’t believe the stereotypical hype. PW caught up with Officer Lee Marrero at end of his midnight-to-8 a.m. shift in the dilapidated 22nd District just west of Temple.

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Posted Jun. 8, 2011 | Comments: 11