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Monastero Leaves DVLF
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Message
from the Board President, Delaware
Valley Legacy Fund:
It is with great sadness that I announce Perry Monastero's
departure as Executive Director of DVLF (Delaware Valley Legacy Fund).
Perry has done so much for this organization and has been an instrumental
leader in helping DVLF grow and become a nationally recognized LGBT
foundation.
Perry will not be far though, as he is joining the Mazzoni Center staff as the Director of
Development and Marketing. This will be a challenging yet phenomenal
position for Perry and I am very excited for him.
So that youare
aware of the steps being taken to make the transition a smooth one, the DVLF
Executive Committee is meeting tomorrow to discuss our plans for having an
interim staff person, as well as our plans to launch a national search.
While we are looking for replacement personnel, now more so than ever, the
Board's strength and commitment to the organization is essential and can be
counted on.
Angela Giampolo, DVLF Board President
Message
from Perry Monastero:
I have had an amazing, life-changing, and personal
growth-developing experience as the executive director for just a little over
five years. Together, we have made this foundation grow. Together,
you and I have planted many, many seeds that are building our community's
capacity to address the challenges we face and the opportunities that you have
created.
That is why it is an extremely difficult decision to move to
the next challenge in my life. I regret to inform you that I am resigning
effective October 29, 2009, as the executive director of the Delaware Valley
Legacy Fund.
I will be joining another organization with an equally
important mission for our community, the Mazzoni LGBT
Health Center.
I am excited about the potential for even more expansion at Mazzoni and look
forward to working with Nurit Shein and her team.
The move for me is bittersweet. The impact that you
have had on my life is permanent in a very positive way. I've been
inspired by the people whose lives are changed by DVLF's support. I feel
energized by the generosity, humor, brilliance, and strategy of DVLF's Legacy
Society, Barbara Gittings Circle,
and annual fund donors. I will miss the sage mentors that I've had for
the past few years that have come in the form of board and advisory council
members - and from my peers at other funding and direct service agencies.
I am deeply grateful for these experiences and from all of
the people that I have had the privilege to meet and to get to know.
Thank you for your support, confidence, friendship, and advice. Your involvement has taken DVLF to where its
founders Barbara Gittings and Walter Lear envisioned - a strong, safe,
permanent bank account where people use their checkbooks to be activists.
To all of the volunteers, past interns, DVLF fellows, thank
you! You're the best that we could have imagined.
To all of the donors - thank you! I can't thank you enough for believing
in the mission and potential of DVLF.
To all of the people whom I do not know but have made a positive impact on DVLF
behind the scenes - you know who you are - thank you, too!
I look forward to continuing my involvement as a permanent
member of the DVLF Legacy Society and am confident that Angela Giampolo and the
DVLF Board of Directors will continue DVLF's vital mission. I also
look forward to continuing to see so many of you at community events, too.
Perry Monastero,
Executive
Director
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queerVOICE
We March For Them
James Duggan
copyright 2009
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Next weekend queers and our allies from across the
country will descend upon the nation's capital. Thousands, perhaps Hundreds of
thousands will March on Washington
to demand the equality that is ours as American citizens. That is, in fact,
guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,
which reads, in part, "all persons born or naturalized in the United States . .
. are citizens of the United States . . . no State shall make or enforce any
law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws."
We will assemble in the nation's capital because we as a community are the last
Americans to receive full citizenship in a country that claims that all people
are free. Clearly, queers are not truly free; we are bound by laws and
injustices brought about by ignorance and prejudice that have placed limits on
our freedom and deny us the equal protection that is afforded to all other
citizens.
Sadly but surely, at this moment, the absolute fact is queers are second class
citizens. We will remain that way until our demands for full equal
protection under the law are afforded to us in all 50 states.
Today, in the majority of the states, we are still denied our natural right to
marry the person of our choice. With the Defense of Marriage Act those who are
legally married are limited to where they can live thereby denying them the
right to move freely with their family to the state of their choice. If a
legally married same-sex couple encounters a job related transfer to a state
where same-sex marriage is not permitted than that couple will suffer the loss
of privileges and benefits that were afforded them legally in the state that
they've come from. We must march for this type of injustice and
unfairness!
In far too many states, shockingly, we can be fired simply for being who we were
born to be. Imagine your teachers, lawyers, doctors, and firefighters being
fired simply for being queer? We must march for this type of
injustice and unfairness!
Bashing, bullying, emotional abuse, physical attacks and even murder of
individuals simply because of their "perceived" sexual orientation or
gender identity are clearly hate crimes yet in far too many states we are
denied such protections as governments turn a blind eye to the reality around
them with the hope that we will just go away. We must march for
this type of injustice and unfairness!
Queer soldiers, airmen, sailors, linguists, special-forces, enlisted personnel
and officers are, at this very moment, all being denied the right to serve
freely and openly. Decorated men and women, defenders of our
freedom--denied that same freedom! For them, we also march!
For those who through no fault of their own continue to fear being open, honest
and out about their true self, we must be willing to be their strength and
their voice and to march for their freedom.
For our children, and their children, we must be willing to march so that they
may grow up in an America
where freedom is for all people and not just for the chosen.
Marriage equality, schools and work places that are free of harassment and
discrimination, an open and inclusive Military, equality in immigration policy,
and protection from hate crimes, rights that should be ours under the
Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, we still don't have yet
we must march for them.
Whether the March on Washington
on Sunday, October 11, is 100 people strong or 100,000 we must be willing to
take a stand on the national level, we must be willing to show our support and
do our part.
Aren't you willing to join the March on Washington
and demand our full citizenship?
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What It Looks Like From Here
Thom Cardwell
copyright 2009 |
 We're all about design
this coming week! When you think about it, everything is actually
designed by someone. But like fashion, there's definitely a hierarchy of
design, high and low, artistic and practical, and, definitely, good and
bad.DesignPhiladelphia, the largest
national celebration of its kind, marks its fifth anniversary, with over 90 events
and 450 designers, the citywide event will take place from October 7 to October
13.
I myself have always
been attracted to good design; it's an instinct, like breathing or eating. (It
might be a queer gene, too, but every queer person doesn't always seem to have
it, so maybe not.) But DesignPhiladelphia spotlights all things design--from architecture to interior design,
fashion to product design, textile to graphic design.
The event energizes the
city's creative energy, from the streets to the boutiques, galleries, design
studios, cultural institutions, universities and warehouses. Over the 7-day event, visitors can explore
exhibitions, workshops, studio tours, lectures, runway shows and other special
events. There are even numerous product rollouts that inspire, engage, excite
and delight.
 "Through showcasing
the extent of designers and retailers, professional offices, museums, and
galleries in this area, DesignPhiladelphia aides the city's retention and
attraction of young designers and creative professionals. DesignPhiladelphia is
instrumental in raising the national
reputation of Philadelphia
as a city of change and innovation," said DesignPhiladelphia
Founder/Executive Director Hilary Jay.
Some of the highlights during the week will
include: Dialogues on Design, a
series of conversations featuring design professionals such as: graphic
designer, author and curator Ellen
Lupton; product designer Karim
Rashid; editor-in-chief, Metropolis Magazine, Susan Szenasy; architect James
Timberlake; SoReFa, an
eco-couture runway show, featuring socially responsible fashion; Philly {heart}
Design, a collaborative design intervention in an empty city lot exploring
urban park design; Philly Works, a
marketplace and exhibition of locally designed and produced products; Dining by Design, specialized menus in
local restaurants blending distinctive meal preparation with distinctive
ambiance; Open Studios, more than 15
 architecture, product design and graphic design firms will open their doors to
the public, including: Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT), Interface Studio,
Cloud Geshan, Galbraith & Paul, Moto Designshop Organizers anticipate
approximately 235,000 people attended the DesignPhiladelphia event including
Philadelphia residents, as well as students, design professionals, and consumers
working, studying, and living in the Mid-Atlantic region.
"Design can be felt
throughout work, social interactions, education, commutes - it is really in
every form of our lives - the poster we look at while waiting for the bus that
takes us to the building where we use computers to communicate and produce; it
helps us decide what box of cereal to buy, which coat to wear, how we carry our
things," says Beth Van Why,
program manager. "Design affects everyone and everything every moment of
every day."
DesignPhiladelphia is
produced by The Design Center at
Philadelphia University, a nonprofit organization. It is made possible by
Poor Richards Charitable Trust, Paragraph Design, The Mural Arts Program,
Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation,
Philadelphia University, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and friends
of DesignPhiladelphia.
For more
information, visit DesignPhiladelphia.org
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Thom's Table on the Qt!
Thom Cardwell
copyright 2009
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 Now restaurateur Stephen Starr is taking over a
neighborhood, this time, it's Society Hill, no less, right at Headhouse Square, with Pizzeria
Stella, at the corner of 2nd & Lombard Streets, Philadelphia, in the
former digs for Cosi. It opened earlier this week.
Starr, whose territorial
imperative keeps growing by leaps and bounds, of course, has a whole host of restaurants
around Philadelphia, then spread to New York City, Atlantic City
and Fort Lauderdale. I wonder when he'll be
moving onto Chicago, Las
Vegas, and Los Angeles.
"We are extremely proud
to open Pizzeria Stella," said Starr, owner of STARR Restaurants. "It has been a concept that I have long wanted
to pursue and that we have taken great pride in researching and developing. With an outstanding menu that is affordable
and unique, Pizzeria Stella will be a great addition to the STARR family of
restaurants and Philadelphia's
dining culture."
Starr boasts that
Pizzeria Stella will serve twelve
signature wood-fired pizzas that are a cross between classic Neapolitan and New York style pizza
in a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. Pizzeria Stella will feature a selection
of 12-inch pizzas, including everything from the
traditional Margherita with San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, extra
virgin olive oil, and fresh basil to signature pies such as Sausage with sweet
fennel sausage, hot peppers, garlic, and fresh basil; Vongole with clams,
guanciale and broccoli rabe; San Daniele with prosciutto, smoked mozzarella,
baby arugula, and ricotta salata and Tartufo with black truffle, fontina
cheese, egg and parmesan.
There will be a variety of salads such as grilled
radicchio, roasted beet and arugula, antipasti, and a selection of sliced and
cured meats, including prosciutto di parma, coppa, and hot sopressatta. House-made
gelato will be the specialty dessert at Pizzeria Stella. Wines will be selective, affordable and
pizza-friendly Italian varietals available by the glass and by the bottle.
The restaurant's
interior was designed in collaboration by Richard
Stokes of Stokes Architecture and Shawn
Hausman Design who have Parc, Continental Mid-Town,
Buddakan and Continental in Atlantic
City in their collective portfolios. With concrete floors and steel beams,
Pizzeria Stella's interior blends industrial elements with Italian accents such
as wood paneling, postcards of Pisa
and Chianti bottles lining the walls.
For more
information, call 215.320.8000; or visit pizzeriastella.net
 Les
Dames d'Escoffier International (LDEI) returns
this weekend for at their annual conference at The Sofitel Philadelphia through October 4. "Unlike other
culinary organizations, LDEI's membership is comprised of primarily
entrepreneurial professionals, from farmers to Food Network
personalities," said Suzanne Brown,
president of LDEI that now boasts more than 1,400 members worldwide, "With
the composition of our membership in mind, coupled with our challenging
economy, the educational seminars this year address the latest issues in food
trends, issues, opportunities, and new business ideas."
Highlights of the conference will include: tours of
culinary, historical and cultural highlights of the Philadelphia area, the
presentation of the biennial Grande Dame Award to Dame Shirley Corriher of the
Atlanta chapter and the celebration of several chapters' anniversaries,
including Philadelphia's that mark its 25 anniversary.
Some of the featured speakers will include: Marion Nestle, PhD, Mr. Michael Whiteman, and Marcia Levin Pelchat, Ph.D. Nestle, the
Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York
University on "Today's Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Cook and Eat
from Farm to Table." Afterwards, Michael
Whiteman, president of Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Company and
considered to be this country's leading food and restaurant consultant, will
speak about "After the Downturn Turns Around: Preparing for Change"; and
Dr. Pelchat, who holds a Ph.D. in Physiological psychology from the University
of Pennsylvania, will discuss "Our Aging Senses and Cuisine" in the
Monell Chemical Senses Center. These lectures are open to the public.
For more information,
call 502.456.1851; or visit ldei.org
 Chef-owner Mitch Prensky of Supper, 926 South Street, Philadelphia,
will host the latest in his 2009 series of family-style
Sunday Suppers, 6:30 pm, on October 4.
Prensky will feature
dishes made from local produce purchased
that morning at the Headhouse Square Farmer's Market from the 10am tour at
2nd and Lombard Streets, then later serving a three course dinner for $38 per
person, with a portion of proceeds donated to Headhouse Farmer's Market and The Food Trust, the nonprofit that
operates over 29 local farmers' markets in the region "Our menu at Supper is
seasonally inspired and changes according to what the farmers bring to the restaurant,
or what we find at the local markets," explained Chef Prensky. "By getting our
customers involved in the process of creating the menu, we are also showing
them how easy it is to make a great meal using these incomparably fresh
products."
Chef Prensky has
partnered with local breweries to offer a three-course
beer pairing, matching each course with autumn's full-flavored harvest ales
and lagers. Planned dishes and pairings
include: Sweet Potato Veloute and Bacon and Cheddar Gougeres, paired with Flying Fish Oktoberfish Ale; Roasted
Breast of Chicken with braised bitter greens, a pecan-sage waffle and
maple-smoked chile jus, paired with Yard's
Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce; and Oatmeal-Espresso Stout Cake with pumpkin ice
cream and candy apples, paired with Troeg's
Java Head Oatmeal-Espresso Stout. For
guests who prefer to drink something other than beer with their Sunday Supper,
the restaurant offers a special deal: no
corkage fee for BYOB.
The Food Trust strives
to make healthy food available to all. Working with neighborhoods, schools, grocers,
farmers and policymakers, they've developed a comprehensive approach that
combines nutrition education and greater availability of affordable, healthy
food.
For more
information, call 215.592.8180; or visit supperphilly.com
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What They Said:
copyrighted 2009 |
 Queer writer, activist,
commentator Michelangelo
Signorile has always been known for telling it like it is. Most famous for "outing" Malcolm Forbes and
other high profile closeted gays, Signorile taught everyone that in a civil
rights movement truth is more important than fiction. Imagine if Signorile had
been around in the days of J. Edgar Hoover, for instance? Anyway, I
digress. Right now the point of the matter is that Signorile wants you-all of
you--to March on Washington
on October 10 and 11. In fact, he wants you right by his side. He writes a compelling
argument about the whole issue of the march and why the time is, yes, right
now. In "Why I'm Marching" (The Advocate, October 2009), he writes "A lot of people are saying we need to
think big-real big--and that we need to stop denigrating ourselves by settling
for crumbs, which we never get anyway. Perhaps we need an omnibus LGBT rights
bill that covers everything--go for it all, and leave it at the feet of
Congress. Maybe we should amend the 1964
Civil Rights Act to include us. What about going for the most urgent things rather
than the easiest--like pushing hard for the president to issue a moratorium on
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"--something he has disingenuously said he can't do and
that gay groups more or less have given him a pass on--rather than sitting idly
by and watching careers be destroyed while we continue to investigate options
for overturning the policy?" Signorile hosts his radio show weekdays
on Sirius 109 and XM98.
____________________________________________
 Whose Tom Judson
aka Gus
Mattox? The multitalented and multitasker has had many varied
lives, as actor (he was in the companies of "Cabaret" and "42nd Street"),
carpenter (well, how utterly macho) and gay adult star (discovered by none
other than the Empress of Gay Male Porn, Chi Chi LaRue). Forty-five
Judson (it's really too good to be his real name but is) has turned playwright
with his first one-man show, Canned Ham, which he premiered in New York City
last month and plans to tour around the country. While I can't say much about
his stints as a carpenter and actor, he certainly burns up enough television
screens as daddy (often times leather daddy) Guy Maddox. Like his sexual
prowess, he seems to have a natural knack for the other mighty sword, the open.
He wrote an enchanting, seductive, little piece, about what else--himself (The
Advocate, October 2009) wherein his personal ups and downs, especially,
regarding his finances (or lack of them), his entanglement with possessions (he
has now divested most of them), his fancy for wanting to live the life of a
certifiable Bohemian (he's making his way there) are, strangely, comforting.
His folksy, less is more, small planet, un-material guy, with a free-as-a-bird
philosophy seems to be working for him as he faces the challenges of these
hard(er) times in America.
"I had unwittingly become a person of
possessions, and I was finding that that had the perverse effect of limiting
rather than expanding my options," he recalls. But, fear not, even without
the convertible, the piano, the houses (little ones, not big manses or dream
escapes in Palm Springs like the backdrops of most gay porn movies), he's still
queer--through and through. He promises: "Wherever
there's an open mike, I'll be there. Wherever there's a gay bar with a mirror
ball and a drag queen, I'll be there too"
____________________________________________
 Speaking of Bohemians
and rebels with or without a cause, Jim Carroll, of highly acclaimed and celebrated
The Basketball Diaries, recently passed away after a long illness in the city
where he was born, schooled, lived, loved, hated, and wrote about. Recognized
as "the author of the smartest, toughest New
York City lowlife memoirs ever published."
Writer Chris Norris wrote a
compelling tribute to Carroll (New
York, September 28, 2009) capturing the multifaceted
and complex man. Of the journals that Carroll kept from ages 12 to 16, even
Jack Kerouac's gushing praise, "At 13
years of age, Jim Carroll writes better prose than 89 percent of the novelists
working today." Of course, Carroll experienced overnight fame and fortune
and acclaim. He became a celebrity and literary darling neither of which suited
him well or that he really much cared about. His youthful mind and sharpened
eye totally captured an era. Writes Norris of Carroll, "Hoops-shooting, heroin-slamming literary prodigies
don't come down the pike too often, and this one moved through all social
classes and urban extremities in the gonzo-est moment in New York history. His chronicle evokes the
very smell of the Lindsay-era underworld, a grimy, sexy, Panavision dystopia
that still brings thousands here to find their own." The myth lives on even
though the myth maker is gone.
 
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Events on the Qt! |
October 9 (Friday)
Indigo Ball (SOLD OUT)
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