Tag Archives: Philadelphia

Boy George joined Black Lips for a free concert today in Philadelphia. From WXPN: Having just collaborated with co-headliners Black Lips on a cover of T. Rex’s “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” (watch it here), George headed downstairs to treat the audience with a set pulled mostly from his 2013 LP This Is What I Do; though the classic …

Philadelphia police have identified a suspect in the rape and robbery of a tourist that met his assailant on Grindr. Detectives are asking for the public’s help in finding 26-year-old Douglas Spady, a.k.a. Douglas Casey, of the 5200 block of Cottage Street, in relation to the Wednesday afternoon attack. Spady allegedly pulled a gun on a 34-year-old Canadian man, in …

Philadelphia police are seeking a suspect after a Canadian tourist yesterday reported that he was raped, beaten, and robbed by a man he met on the hook-up app Grindr. The local NBC affiliate reports: The 34-year-old victim, whose identity we are withholding, tells NBC10.com exclusively that he invited the suspect to his hotel room inside the Hilton Home 2 Suites …

Visit Philly has launched a new print and television campaign that reaches out to LGBT tourists. From the clip: “We love neighborhoods and gayborhoods.”

Another day, another Catholic priest arrested. From the Philadelphia Inquirer: District Attorney Seth Williams announced the arrest of Rev. Robert L. Brennan, 75, for allegedly raping an altar boy between 1998 and 2001, while he was assistant pastor at Resurrection of Our Lord parish in Rhawnhurst. The charges came about after a 26-year-old man reportedly encouraged by last year’s trial …

Philadelphia’s Giovanni’s Room, the nation’s oldest LGBT bookstore, is for sale. Ed Hermance, 73, has owned the independently run LGBT bookstore, nestled on the corner of Pine and 12th streets, since 1976. The Powelton resident plans to step down this winter and is exploring options for keeping the business running under a new owner, but will have to sell to …

From the city’s Visit Philly tourism agency. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of its award-winning Philadelphia – Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay® campaign, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) is set to release its second commercial geared toward the LGBT traveler. In 2004, GPTMC produced the first TV commercial by a U.S. destination for the LGBT …

Via the Twitter account of Visit Philly.

In 2004 eleven members of Repent America were arrested for disorderly conduct at Philadelphia’s Outfest after refusing police orders to disperse and stop blocking the street. The arrests became a major cause of national anti-gay hate groups who claimed that Repent America members were arrested merely for “reading the bible in public.” Their subsequent lawsuit resulted in the 2008 overturn …

Well, four of them. Clip description: When a group from The Philadelphia Orchestra found itself delayed on the tarmac for three hours waiting for their flight from Beijing to Macao as part of the 2013 Residency & Fortieth Anniversary Tour of China, a quartet of musicians decided to provide a “pop up” performance for the passengers. Top rated comment on …

A four story apartment building collapsed in downtown Philadelphia this morning near the 30th Street train station. Emergency workers are searching the rubble for survivors. Philly police are calling the collapse an “industrial accident” but what that means isn’t clear. Following the developing story on Philadelphia’s ABC affiliate.  CNN is also live on the scene.

Mixed martial arts fighter Waylon Lowe is suing a Philadelphia sex shop for selling him a desensitizing lube that he claims caused “catastrophic and permanent damage” to his penis.   Marla Lee, president of the Kama Sutra Co. and Kamsut Inc., which make and market the gel, called Lowe’s claims “flabbergasting.” The gel is one of the 44-year-old company’s original and …

Included in Philadelphia’s sweeping LGBT rights bill, which was signed into law last week by Mayor Michael Nutter, is a provision that requires gender-neutral restrooms in city-owned buildings. The legislation requires that new or renovated city-owned buildings include gender-neutral bathrooms in addition to traditional men’s and women’s restrooms. There is more to the bill than just a neutral place to …

After years of legal battles, Philadelphia’s local Boy Scouts group has agreed to abandon the city-owned building they’ve occupied rent-free for 85 years.  The city has agreed to pay the Boy Scouts $825,000 for physical improvements they made to the facility. The group’s rent-free use of the building came under fire after the Boy Scouts of America barred gays from …

The Philadelphia City Council today approved a sweeping LGBT health bill that may include stipulations seen in no other large city. Via Philadelphia Gay News: Bill 130224, which passed with a 14-3 vote, would not only give a tax credit incentive to businesses that offered employee health plans that would include same-sex partners and children, but it would also include …

Yesterday the Archdiocese of Philadelphia permanently discharged three priests accused in a 2011 molestation scandal. The Revs. Joseph Gallagher and Mark Gaspar were suspended following a scathing 2011 grand jury report that ultimately led to the landmark conviction of a high-ranking archdiocese official on child endangerment charges. Two other priests and a Catholic school teacher were also convicted. The February …

The above sign was posted in 2005 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. It stands about 100 feet from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell and is surely seen by millions of tourists every year. Visit Philly, the city’s official tourism organization, has some details: Pennsylvania erected Philadelphia’s first LGBT marker to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the …

Philadelphia City Hall was the world’s tallest building from 1901-1908. The 548 foot tower remains the tallest masonry building in the world.  At 37 feet, the statue of William Penn is the tallest atop any building in the world.  So sez Wikipedia.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter spoke today at the Haas Convening for gay journalists, where he explained his desire to make Philly “the nation’s most progressive city.” Tomorrow we’ll visit the construction site for Philadelphia’s coming housing center for gay seniors, which had its groundbreaking with Nutter in November. UPDATE: When Nutter took the podium, lots of folks took out their …