OCTOBER 07, 2016
Forum on racism in Philly's LGBT community gets heated
Call for boycott of gay clubs during this weekend's Outfest
BY NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD
PhillyVoice Contributor
It had been almost a year to the day that Philadelphia Black Pride gathered in the same ballroom at the William Way LGBT Community Center to discuss racism in the LGBT community.
On Thursday night, people of all colors, many nervous nightlife workers and others showed up to the center on Spruce Street to have yet another conversation about the subject, this time precipitated by a three-year-old video that surfaced in recent weeks of iCandy nightclub owner Darryl DePiano using the n-word to refer to black customers.
Since the video was widely shared on social media, protests have erupted regularly outside DePiano’s establishment. Most recently, angry protesters entered his 12th Street bar to express their anger over what they allege are DePiano’s discriminatory practices against black patrons, a problem that many in the LGBT community say is persistent at other gay bars in the Gayborhood.
Citing a lack of response by LGBT and city leaders, the Black and Brown Workers Collective, Black Lives Matter and Philadelphia ACT UP have called for the resignation of Nellie Fitzpatrick from the city's Office of LGBT Affairs. Just this week, protesters interrupted an awards ceremony at the Hard Rock Cafe where Fitzpatrick was being honored as a trailblazer by the Professional Women’s Roundtable.
With a surplus of frustration to build upon, Thursday night’s race forum, paid for – interestingly – by the DePianos, was focused specifically on systematic racism in LGBT nightlife. With circular seating and two moderators (one black, one white), a few dozen people shared their personal stories, shed light on what many say are racist door policies and discussed how exactly black patrons are treated differently in mostly white male-owned gay bars in the city.
Several black gay, lesbian and transgender attendees recounted painful personal stories about being discriminated against, how racist tactics are more covert than ever and why black people are, quite frankly, tired of having to deal with so many “teachable moments.” The man who was referred to by the n-word in DePiano’s now infamous video quietly introduced himself and explained how much pain the video has caused him personally, both in terms of his job at the University of Pennsylvania and simply in the community at large. In a quiet voice, he said he feels “disrespected.”
“It takes a lot to change minds and behavior. But we need to call each other out on our s---.” – Braden Chapman
Rue Landau, executive director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and the Fair Housing Commission, a lesbian herself, laid down the hard facts about discrimination, saying that it’s not only illegal, but there are 16 protected categories.
“We want you to file complaints with us,” Landau said. “We need to know about it.”
She announced a public hearing on Oct. 25 at the Offices of Liberty Resources (112 N. Eighth Street, Suite 600) from 6 to 8 p.m. to give LGBT community members and allies a chance to air their grievances formally to the PCHR.
Braden Chapman, the "RuPaul’s Drag Race" alum better known as Mimi Imfurst, also shared his frustration over complacency and why it’s up to everyone to speak out against racism in establishments that are supposed to be safe spaces for the LGBT community.
“It takes a lot to change minds and behavior,” Chapman said. “But we need to call each other out on our s---.”
He asked that his peers in the industry hold each other accountable, a sentiment that was echoed throughout the two-hour-plus event by many other performers, bartenders and the one club owner who showed up, Jeff Sotland, owner of Tabu on 12th Street.
“I know blatant racism when I see it,” Sotland said. “But I don’t know covert racism.”
He talked about the time he pulled a comedy show at Tabu after a performer used the n-word on stage. He also banned a performer for 60 days for using the same word. Tabu has, he said, offered transgender sensitivity training, among other initiatives, with hopes of making the club inclusive. He encouraged everyone to let him know if he and his staff are not doing their jobs and if there are problems. Tabu is one of the few LGBT clubs in Philly that employs black and transgender bartenders and staff.
“Things are not going to change tomorrow,” Sotland said.
But in citing a one-night-only event this past summer that raised millions of dollars for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, he’s hopeful that “ bar owners are capable of doing very good things” when they work together.
'THE SOUNDTRACK TO WHITE SUPREMACY'
For many within the community, progress has been a long time coming. One man in his 70s remembered fighting against racism 50 years ago. That he was sitting in the room Thursday night having the same discussion was disheartening, especially in a community that has made so many strides against AIDS and for equal rights like same-sex marriage. For elders in the LGBT community, it seems like racial discrimination has taken a back seat. And for the next generation, change isn’t coming fast enough.
“We have been feeling like this for a very, very, very long time,” said Aeryanah Von Moi, an actress and writer with the People’s Light and Theatre Company.
She said that the issue being addressed now in the Gayborhood isn’t simply about the owner of a club getting caught using the n-word but the more underhanded, sophisticated ways that racism takes shape.
Von Moi stood up and thanked the iCandy owner for showing white people that what black people have been saying for so long is very much alive and well. She said she is willing to forgive trespasses when people in positions of power – starting with the owners of these clubs – begin admitting there’s a problem and actually addressing it.
“I have a right to be angry,” said Dena Underwood, a local musician who sings and plays the piano at Tavern on Camac.
She said she regularly sees black patrons being treated differently by bartenders and customers at the club.
“I feel like I’m playing the soundtrack to white supremacy,” she said emotionally, alleging that black people get carded more than whites, white people regularly get promoted to the best slots behind the bar, and that white customers often don’t want to interact with black peers in the intimate music space.
So what can people do to change the status quo?
One suggestion that came from the forum was to boycott the LGBT clubs from Friday through Sunday, which happens to be Outfest, one of the LGBT community’s biggest, most beloved annual events where streets are shut down and people gather to dance and drink in the heart of the Gayborhood.
Pamela K. Williams, pastor of the Ark of Refuge Tabernacle in West Philly, solicited quite a few “amens” when she proposed the boycott, saying that she and her supporters will be outside clubs and on street corners in the neighborhood all three days to drive home the message that racism is unacceptable.
“I’m pissed off, too,” Williams said.
She called out the owners of clubs like iCandy, Boxers, Stir, Knock, Woody’s, Voyeur, UBar and Tavern on Camac, who did not attend Thursday night’s event. She said that’s why she wants to “hit them where it hurts the most” – on the bottom line. She asked that everyone in the room refuse to spend any money at these clubs for the next three days – and to pass along the message to everyone they know.
'MUCH BIGGER THAN ICANDY'
At one point, Williams spoke directly to DePiano’s husband, Michael, who was in attendance. DePiano admitted that Darryl DePiano, his husband and the iCandy owner at the center of the controversial video, did not attend because he has received death threats.
“We ain’t playing,” the pastor said.
David Lopez, who performs as drag queen Isis, took up the pastor’s pulpit with an inspirational call for love and change.
“There are two words we should be talking about,” said Lopez, “social accountability.”
Throughout the evening, black people within the community called on their white friends to step out, while several white people asked what they can do to make the atmosphere at these establishments more accepting. Issues like Woody’s “no Timberlands” policy, which has been outraging people since it was established many months ago, was called out as a not-too-subtle way of keeping black people out of the nightclub.
While the temperature of Thursday night’s event was heated from start to finish, most seemed to agree that the problem is endemic of a community that is expected to be far more open-minded and is failing miserably. More than a few attendees talked emotionally about how bad this makes LGBT people look in the eyes of Philadelphia at large and how exhausting it is for black people to be expected to accept racism as somehow “normal.”
“Our anger is justified,” said a young black woman, who was angry that the oppressed “have to turn around and give you an education lesson.”
Another man said that he’s tired of explaining himself. He wants more than an apology from owners like DePiano. He wants to see action.
“This is not an isolated incident,” Von Moi said. “This is much bigger than iCandy.”
http://www.phillyvoice.com/forum-racism-phillys-lgbt-community-gets-heated/
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81
on: October 12, 2016, 06:42:06 am
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General Category / Modern Manhood / Love Is All You Need: Insights from the Longest Longitudinal Study on Men
on: September 30, 2016, 12:46:13 pm
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| Started by Milo - Last post by Milo | ||
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Love Is All You Need: Insights from the Longest Longitudinal Study on Men Ever Conducted
Brett & Kate McKay | September 2, 2014 Why do two men from very similar socioeconomic and educational backgrounds sometimes take very different life paths? Is nature or nurture more important in determining a man’s success in his relationships and career? What physiological and psychological traits present in a man’s younger years predict his chances of living a long, flourishing life? In 1938, researchers at Harvard’s medical school began a study that aimed to answer these fascinating questions and discover what factors lead to an “optimum” life. The study recruited 268 of the university’s sophomores from the all-male classes of 1939-1944, and set out to examine every aspect of their lives for at least a couple decades. The men selected were healthy in body and mind, and deemed likely to capitalize on their potential and become successful adults. While many of them came from well-off families, some were intelligent students who had been plucked from poor households and given full scholarships. The study’s participants were signing on for extensive probing into their lives. They were given physicals and thorough psychological evaluations; researchers visited their homes to interview their parents, as well as three generations of relatives; each year the men filled out an exhaustive questionnaire that inquired about numerous aspects of their health, habits, family, political views, career, and marriage; and every 10-15 years, the men were interviewed face-to-face. This research project, known as the Grant Study, continues today, more than 75 years after its inception. Having been extended numerous times, it has become one of the longest longitudinal studies ever conducted. When George Vaillant, who has been the study’s director for several decades, first started working on the project, he was thirty-two, and the participants were in their fifties; today, Vaillant is pushing eighty, and the men are in their nineties. The participants continue to fill out their annual questionnaires, and Vaillant continues to study their answers. Nothing quite like the Grant Study has ever been attempted; as Vaillant puts it, this research represents “one of the first vantage points the world has ever had on which to stand and look prospectively at a man’s life from eighteen to ninety.” The mountains of data collected over more than seven decades has become a rich trove for examining what factors present in a man’s younger years best predict whether he will be successful and happy into old age. The study’s researchers have continually sifted through the results and reports in an attempt to ferret out these promising elements. As Vaillant details in The Triumphs of Experience, some of the researchers’ original hypotheses did not pan out, and the job of untangling issues of causation and correlation goes on. Yet several insights have emerged very strongly and prominently from the data, offering brightly marked guideposts to a life well lived. Full article: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/09/02/love-is-all-you-need-insights-from-the-longest-longitudinal-study-on-men-ever-conducted/ |
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on: August 17, 2016, 01:11:04 pm
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| Started by MagicM - Last post by Milo | ||
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He did mention lesbians and because of his reference to them viewing him as a 'lipstick lesbian' I would bet money the only type of person he doesn't attract is the typical frumpy bull dyke. hehehe... I didn't think of that, but it fits. |
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84
on: August 16, 2016, 11:39:30 pm
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| Started by MagicM - Last post by bradINblue | ||
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He repeated that those type of people were attracted to HIM then HE listed HIS touchy/feely/tolerant/able-to-relate qualities. Said nothing about his attraction to them probably because he has none. Probably isn't a mega millionaire but cute/young/hot. Have those qualities and most every bi/homo/weirdo/trans will be attracted to you and you need not utter a word. He surely gets plenty of attraction by the otherwise straight, hetro boys (it happens, trust me). He did mention lesbians and because of his reference to them viewing him as a 'lipstick lesbian' I would bet money the only type of person he doesn't attract is the typical frumpy bull dyke. Versatility? No. Cute? Yeah.
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85
on: August 16, 2016, 09:05:58 am
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| Started by MagicM - Last post by Milo | ||
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Probably some homely gay guy worth a hundred million bucks....... Yup. They weren't attracted to him. They were attracted to his $$$. |
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86
on: August 16, 2016, 09:04:35 am
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| Started by MagicM - Last post by Milo | ||
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but it sounds soo crass when you say it!  hehehe... See, I've been there. I know how empty that kind of life is. We laugh, but its really quite pathetic and sad. sounds desperate and insecure to me...come on...how hot can one person BE? Ain't nobody THAT hot. I'm betting that this guy probably knows at least one person in each category he lists. But I highly doubt that he has actually had sex with all of them. |
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87
on: August 14, 2016, 03:32:34 pm
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| Started by MagicM - Last post by bradINblue | ||
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Regarding the people I attract.... every kind of person imaginable.... Probably some homely gay guy worth a hundred million bucks....... |
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88
on: August 14, 2016, 08:08:35 am
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| Started by MagicM - Last post by injest | ||
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"I'll fuck anything" is nothing to be proud of. but it sounds soo crass when you say it! sounds desperate and insecure to me...come on...how hot can one person BE? |
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89
on: August 10, 2016, 06:47:25 am
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| Started by injest - Last post by Milo | ||
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A flimsy excuse based on a politically correct assessment of Biggie's comments. While he certainly did perpetuate the stereotype that gays have of bisexuals, he didn't say anything that was not factual about the spread of AIDS.
I also noticed that the other house-mates think his removal was wrong. |
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90
on: August 07, 2016, 11:40:01 pm
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| Started by injest - Last post by injest | ||
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
and it's been forged. it is something we have been preaching for years, and been called 'homophobic' and 'self hating' because of it but you can't unleash censorship on the general public and seriously believe it won't come around and bite you on the butt. A guilty pleasure I have found is watching Celebrity Big Brother from the UK (stop, I know it's bad!! but it's soooo fun too....) anyway, this season they have a few gay people (they always do) but this year they have older gay people and younger gay people. One of the popular English actors was just thrown off of CBB for language that could 'greatly harm' the other housemates and the viewing public. His offense? Speaking about bisexuality and blaming bisexuals for AIDS...the look of shocked, stunned disbelief on his face when he is told he is being thrown out is so sad. You could tell he wanted to say "but I'm gay, I can't be in trouble!" but his liberal guilt wouldn't let him defend himself. What liberals don't understand is that there will always be a hierarchy of 'victims' and they can not count on being the 'chosen' victim du jour. The chain they forged for the Christian or the Conservative is around their own necks. I don't know where we'll go from here. I know that the Constitution is hanging by the thread but I thank God for it. here is the link, the 'offensive' comments were at 6:17 and the eviction is right at 15:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG6syUG20WQ ** interesting to note that as 'offensive' and 'harmful' as the comments supposedly were, they DID choose to show them! |
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