Arts & Entertainment
Progress in Pennsylvania
A mini trend of change as openly gay officials emerge

When Philadelphia attorney Brian Sims set his sights on a seat in Pennsylvania’s storied state House last September, the odds were stacked against him: Not only would he be a political newcomer, but he also was running as an openly gay man in the same state that once elected virulently homophobic former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
Seven months later, however, he won his primary race to represent the 182nd District in the state House of Representatives, part of a mini trend of recent gay-supportive political changes that have some wondering if a progressive wave isn’t starting to emerge in the Keystone State.
Supporters of the idea point to Sims, who is running unopposed in the November election, as well as to 24-year-old gay Harrisburg Treasurer John Campbell, who is helping the stateās capital city cope with its much publicized bankruptcy. Meanwhile, a state LGBT Equality Caucus is active, and members of the House State Government Committee recently killed efforts to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
Campbell, a college student who hopes to use tax reform to free Harrisburg from a $300 million debt pileup, believes Sims’ election could signal more positive change to come.
“All states that have passed a marriage equality bill have previously elected an openly gay legislator,” Campbell said, adding that having an out gay man in the state House would go far to personalize the issue of LGBT rights. “It really helps our argument that we are people too.”
Sims said LGBT supporters are making their presence known in the state. He pointed to widespread support among Pennsylvanians for a measure to add LGBT-friendly language to the state human relations act.
The legislation, House Bill 300, has stalled several times in committee.
“I’ve spent years traveling the state talking about LGBT rights and one of the things I like to tell people is the state is not as conservative as people think it is,” said Sims, adding that the state’s failure to pass LGBT-inclusive hate crimes and anti-bullying measures isnāt necessarily reflective of constituent sentiment.
Sims, former board president of Equality Pennsylvania, is poised to become the stateās first openly gay legislator. He has a background of working with attorneys, legislators and community organizations on issues ranging from gender and pay inequity to environmental regulation. And though he didn’t make LGBT issues a campaign lynchpin, he plans to continue including LGBT matters alongside corporate income tax reform and other key issues as he moves forward, he said.
He said such matters increasingly reflect the interests and spirit of the state.
“The state is progressing ā we are growing stronger by the minute,” he said. “I don’t necessarily know that our current laws and political structure really do reflect how forward-thinking the people in the state are.”
Opinions of Pennsylvania’s progress are as diverse as its record supporting gay and lesbian residents. The state has historically been a maverick on some fronts, among them the establishment of a state Council for Sexual Minorities in the mid ’70s, and the recent passage of the stateās 28th local LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance.
And in Philadelphia, home to what’s considered the nation’s oldest operating gay bookstore in Giovanni’s Room, a vibrant LGBT community thrives, according to Mark Segal, who has spent 37 years chronicling the community’s ups and downs as founder of Philadelphia Gay News.
“Society is moving at a brisk pace toward equality and I think this is happening everywhere. But you also have to look at history. Philadelphia is, in many ways, the birthplace of the LGBT movement,” he said, citing the city’s 47-year history of gay Fourth of July marches as an example.
But weak spots remain. For one, those local LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination ordinances are the result of lawmakers’ failure to pass state-level legislation, and are essentially, local attempts to patch up gaps in state law.
And even as President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey (D) has remained conspicuously quiet on the issue.
“[Pennsylvanians’] reputation in general is one of being pretty safely in the middle, and what that means is sometimes they’re progressive, and sometimes they’re not,” said Ted Martin, executive director of Equality Pennsylvania. “It’s a place that doesn’t want to rush out too far nor does it like to be in the end.”
The head of the state’s main LGBT advocacy group said he believes Pennsylvania is growing more progressive, just very slowly.
He pointed to recent polls showing up to 51 percent of state residents support same-sex marriage and said lawmakers he encounters no longer insist they don’t have any gays in their district.
“Are we turning a corner, are we taking some steps forward? I like to think so,” he said. “We’re certainly starting to have a conversation we never had and that’s a good thing.”
That conversation comes at a sensitive moment in regional LGBT politics. Surrounded by states passing LGBT-friendly measures, Pennsylvania has increasingly become an ideological island, a fact that could have a damaging economic impact, some say.
āMany places that already permit same-sex marriage ā New York, Maryland, D.C. and others ā are geographically close to Pennsylvania,ā Rep. Babette Josephs told Philadelphia magazine last week. āWe will be losing valuable citizens to these other states because of our backward ways; the image of Pennsylvania will continue to be tarnished.ā
But turning Pennsylvania into a more progressive state presents a significant challenge. For one, the state’s political landscape remains blue at the edges, anchored by liberal Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with a rural, conservative center.
Moreover, that center enables a powerful Republican Party that keeps the General Assembly “in a 1950s bubble,” Segal said.
But Campbell believes that makes the state better poised than most to be a national example of change.
“If a battleground state is trending toward being more open and accepting, that should lead the way for other states to do the same,” Campbell said. “It’s important to show that even Pennsylvania can do it.”
Books
From genteel British wealth to trans biker
Memoir āFrighten the Horsesā a long but essential read

āFrighten the Horses: A Memoirā
By Oliver Radclyffe
c.2024, Roxane Books/Grove Atlantic
$28/352 pages
Finding your own way.
It’s a rite of passage for every young person, a necessity on the path toĀ adulthood. You might have had help with it. You might have listened to your heart alone on the quest to find your own way. And sometimes, as in the new memoir,Ā “Frighten the Horses” by Oliver Radclyffe,Ā you may have to findĀ yourselfĀ first.

If you had observed Oliver Radclyffe in a random diner a few years ago, you’d have seen a blonde, bubbly, but harried mother with four active children under age seven and a distracted husband. You probably wouldn’t have seen trouble, but it was there.
“Nicky,” as Radclyffe was known then, was simmering with something that was just coming to the forefront.
As a young child, Nicky’d been raised in comfort in a family steeped in genteel British wealth, attended a private all-girl’s school, and never wanted for anything. She left all that behind as a young adult, and embraced the biker lifestyle and everything it entailed. The problem now wasn’t that she missed her old ways; it was that she hated life as a wife and mother. Her dreams were filled with fantasies of “exactly who I was: a man on a motorbike, in love with a woman.”
But being a man? No, that wasn’t quite right.
It took every bit of courage she had to say she was gay, that she thought constantly about women, that she hated sex with men. When she told her husband, he was hurt but mostly unbothered, insisting that she tell absolutely no one. They could remain married and just go forward. Nothing had to change.
But everything had already changed for Nicky.
Once she decided finally to come out, she learned that friends had already suspected. Family was supportive. It would be OK. But as Nicky began to experiment with a newfound freedom to be with women, one thing became clear: having sex with a woman was better when she imagined doing it as a man.
In his opening chapter, author Oliver Radclyffe shares an anecdote about the confusion the father of Radclyffe’s son’s friend had when picking up the friend. Readers may feel the same sentiment.
Fortunately, “Frighten the Horses” gets better ā and it gets worse. Radclyffe’s story is riveting, told with a voice that’s distinct, sometimes poker-faced, but compelling; you’ll find yourself agreeing with every bit of his outrage and befuddlement with coming out in a way that feels right. When everything falls into place, it’s a relief for both author and reader.
And yet, it’s hard to get to this point because this memoir is just too long. It lags where you’ll wish it didnāt. It feels like being burrito-wrapped in a heavy-weighted blanket: You don’t necessarily want out, but you might get tired of being in it.
Still, it remains that this peek at transitioning, however painful, is essential reading for anyone who needs to understand how someone figures things out. If that’s you, then consider “Frighten the Horses” and find it.
Celebrity News
Is Karla SofĆa GascĆ³n’s apology too little, too late?
Netflix has removed transgender actress from Oscars campaign

The latest in the scandal involving “Emilia PerĆ©z”ās trans star and Best Actress nominee Karla SofĆa GascĆ³n is Netflix deciding to part ways with her even after her public apology and statement regarding not withdrawing from the nomination.
āI have been labeled a racist and I need to be clear that I am not. I feel like Iāve been judged, sentenced, crucified, and stoned without a fair trial and without an option to defend myself,ā said GascĆ³n in an interview with CNN en EspaƱol.Ā
According to Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has cut GascĆ³n out of the campaign for the Oscars. This move comes even after GascĆ³n issued an apology through a statement on her social media and in an interview with CNN en EspaƱol. On Thursday she was set to be seated with co-star Selena Gomez, Zoe SaldaƱa and the filmās writer-director, Jacques Audiard for the AFI Awards luncheon ā a gathering at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. On Friday, she was set to attend the Critics Choice Awards. On Saturday, she was set to serve as presenter at the Producers Guild Awards, which happen to be going on at the same time as the Directors Guild Awards. According to THR, she will not be attending the events.
The Spaniard actress found herself at the center of controversy surrounding the Netflix original being nominated for 13 Oscars after freelance culture writer Sarah Hagi uncovered the actress’s stream of consciousness on display on X, formerly Twitter. Hagi found tweets from as far back as 2020, revealing GascĆ³n’s views on Muslims, George Floyd, China, and vaccines.
In her hour-long interview with CNN en EspaƱol, she defended her position on the issue stating that she feels that she was unfairly targeted, while not being given the opportunity to defend the position she stood behind while writing those tweets.
She goes on to say that she āsupports the Black Lives Matter movement obviouslyā and that the tweets about George Floyd āwere taken out of context.ā In the interview, she goes on to say she was highlighting the hypocrisy of humanity in that moment in history. According to GascĆ³n, what she noticed during that time was that only after Floydās death did people care about him, but prior to his death, they did not help him or care about his struggles.
āI do not identify with any political party and I have my own opinions about issues that might have been one thing in the past, but have now shifted because I have learned many things about respect, love and with the spiritual practice of Buddhism,ā said GascĆ³n.
In the interview, she also pulls the “I have a friend whoās Black, so Iām not racist,ā card by saying she has a very close family friend who is Muslim, in response to the line of questioning about her being Islamophobic and only through very heavy discussions with her, has GascĆ³n truly come to understand the implications of her words against the culture and religion, as well as theĀ differences between the cultures.Ā
“Emilia PerĆ©z” was already facing an upward battle to gain popularity, as it was a French production about MĆ©xico. Audiences criticized the film for various reasons and yet, it was still nominated for Best Picture, Critics Choice Award for Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Directing, and many others.
GascĆ³n deleted her X account shortly after the tweets were discovered and is now facing the cold shoulder from Netflix. Variety and THR, reported that the streaming giant is no longer directly communicating with GascĆ³n ā only through representatives.
Whether or not this is a witch hunt for a trans actress at the height of her career, GascĆ³n now has first-hand experience in dealing with what it means to misuse a platform by sharing her views on issues she said herself, she did not understand.
Out & About
Camp Rehoboth Theatre Company kicks off new season
Poetry jam to be followed by ‘5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche’

CAMP Rehoboth Theatre Company will kick off its 2025 season with its first-ever poetry jam followed by a full-stage production of ā5 Lesbians Eating a Quicheā on Friday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. at CAMP Rehoboth’s Elkins-Archibald Atrium.
CAMP Rehoboth Poetry Jam Poets / Performers include: Debbie Bricker, Kari Ebert, Shelley Blue Grabel, Lavance John, Vanita Leatherwood, Syd Linders, Ellie Maher, Jane Miller, Gwen Osborne, Coco Silveira, Guillermo Silverira, Laura Unruh, Paul Unruh, and Sherri Wright.
ā5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche,ā which will run from March 7-9 debuted at CAMP Rehoboth in fall of 2022, and features returning cast members Karen Laitman, Kelly Sheridan, Gwen Osborne, Darcy Vollero, and Shelley Kingsbury, and is directed by Teri Seaton. The absurdist comedy follows the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein having their annual quiche breakfast in 1956. Winner of the 2012 NYC International Fringe Festival as Best Overall Production, ā5 Lesbians Eating A Quicheā is a tasty recipe of hysterical laughs, sexual innuendos, unsuccessful repressions, and delicious discoveries. For more information, visit CAMP Rehobothās website.
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