OMG Comments Are Open On Giovanni’s Room Anniversary Story

Gail Shister wrote a piece today on the 35th anniversary of Giovanni’s Room, the cleverly-named gay bookstore across the street from Pine Street Pizza. In the infinite wisdom of Philly.com, comments are open.

And now it’s on the front page. Click though and watch the drama unfold real-time!

Phila. gay bookstore Giovanni’s Room marks 35 years [Inquirer]

Chelsea Clinton Has The Ass Of Life

Photo via Brett Lieberman, Pennsyltucky Politics

Chelsea Clinton was in town Friday night, and boy did she have a fabulous time! And why not: She hit all the gay bars in Center City, along with Ed Rendell and Rob Reiner. She even went to Tavern on Camac and Sisters! (Her pub crawl also included Woody’s and Bump. What, no Uncle’s?)

When Chelsea was little, Rush Limbaugh called her ugly and everybody got mad at him. But nobody’s calling Chelsea unattractive now. “Chelsea, the gays love you,” shouted one gay person. “We love your highlights — you’re gorgeous baby!” said another, which prompted bisexual hottie Anne Dicker to say, “Maybe they’re swingers.” Sadly, Chelsea could not visit the now-closed Club Kama Sutra to find out.

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State Senate Candidates Suck Up

Hey, all the First District candidates love the gays:

Two of the candidates - Anne Dicker and Larry Farnese - support gay marriage. John J. Dougherty says he is in favor of civil unions but would back legislation “to extend marriage to same-sex couples.” All three have promised to fight any effort to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as existing only between a man and a woman and say they back legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Anne Dicker, you may know, is bisexual — but she’s married to a man, so don’t get your hopes up, ladies.

First District candidates woo Gayborhood [Inquirer]

Apparently, There Is This Thing Called The ‘Gayborhood’

As you may know if you are me and you live in it and walk through it every day on your way to the office, there are a lot of gays in a certain section of Philadelphia, helpfully called the Gayborhood. A few years ago, the city realized gay people have a ton of disposable income and started marketing trips to Philadelphia for them; according to a report in 2005, Philly made $153 for every dollar spent on marketing.

But now with more places marketing to gays and lesbians — perhaps copying off Philly, a twist worthy of M. Night — Philly has to get a little more creative. The secret? Marketing toward… ah, groups of people, I guess.

With so much competition, it’s important for cities to play to their strengths, said Ben Finzel, co-founder of Out Front Blog. If they’re marketing to single gay men, for example, they should advertise opportunities for meeting other gay singles. Older gay couples might be more interested in hotels, dining options and historic sites. [...]

John Wermuth, 43, who lives in Atlanta, visits Philadelphia about once a year. On a recent trip, he went to Independence Hall, the Museum of Art and the theater — the same attractions that draw mainstream tourists. When he visits, he stays at the Alexander Inn, a gay-owned hotel in the heart of the “gayborhood,” an area of gay-friendly stores and restaurants.

But, as usual, the comment section wins the award for “most interesting part,” especially this comment by Camden Beer: “How much does the city pay per year to pick up used condoms that are littered everywhere on Chestnut Street?”

Philly refines its pitch to gay tourists [AP/Camden Courier-Post]
[Photo via GPTMC]

Gayborhood Officially Renamed Gayborhood

Not content to let the city’s gay tourists find the Gayborhood just by looking for the transvestite prostitutes and drug dealers, our fair city has finally officially designated the Gayborhood the, uh, Gayborhood.

Well, there are now rainbow flags on the street signs from 11th to Broad and Chestnut to Pine. (Aw, I guess I miss living in the Gayborhood by a block or so.) Says Tami Sortman of the Philadelphia gay tourism caucus: “If we’re welcoming gays and lesbians, then we need to show them where the gayborhood is.”

Fair enough. Strike a blow for civil rights — if, uh, rainbow flags on the street signs in an area where there are already 2.2 million rainbow flags can be considered such — and make some sweet cash at the same time? Now that’s a good idea.

Not that everyone is all that excited. NBC 10 spoke with area resident Kathleen Vaughan, who worries the official Gayborhood designation will, uh… I dunno.

“It’s a mixed group of people,” [Kathleen] Vaughan said. “The Parker Hotel used to be a place for mentally ill.”

Despite the opposition, Philadelphia joins San Francisco, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto, which all have gay-friendly districts.

Yes, despite the opposition of Kathleen Vaughan, the Gayborhood remains popular in large liberal cities. Anyway, the mentally ill can live in the Mentally Illborhood. Or call it Midtown Village. Actually, that’s much worse than any other name.

Gayborhood Gets Official Designation, Recognition From City [NBC 10]
Nov. 10: Gayborhood Renamed In Secret Election, 13th Street Now Free Of Drugs And Transvestite Prostitutes

Crucial Details In Abu-Jamal Murder Case

Today, the Daily News has a big package on the 25th anniversary of the death of Daniel Faulkner, with no less than six articles and a timeline spanning several pages of the paper.

The best part is this story about William Singletary by Valerie Russ. Singletary originally fingered Mumia Abu-Jamal as the shooter, later saying that the police coerced him into singing the confession, that they ruined his businesses, that they made him leave town.

But the amount of important detail in this particular piece is awesome. To wit, before he saw/didn’t see Mumia Abu-Jamal shoot Daniel Faulkner, here’s the story:

In 1981, Singletary was a part-owner of the Bombay Lounge, a bar and hotel at 1504 Catharine St.

Singletary had driven from his bar to the Whispers night club, at 13th and Locust, some time after 3 a.m.

“Business at my place was slow,” he said.

“Everybody was leaving my bar and going to Whispers. I wanted to know what was going on there.” When he got to Whispers, Singletary said the person at the door wouldn’t let him in.

Singletary started walking south on 13th street toward his car when Cynthia White, the prostitute who would later testify against Abu-Jamal, approached and said, “Hey, how you doing? It’s cold out here.”

As he approached his car, “a brand-new Cadillac Eldorado, 1982 model,” White said, “Wow, that’s a great car!”

“Then she said, ‘You ain’t that bad-looking either. But I don’t date black guys.’ ”

Singletary said he returned: “And I don’t date prostitutes.”

It’s good to know that, 25 years later, there still are prostitutes at 13th and Locust. Well, not this Dec. 9. It’s too cold.

Witness: Abu-Jamal didn’t do it [Daily News]

Gayborhood Renamed In Secret Election, 13th Street Now Free Of Drugs And Transvestite Prostitutes

In recent years, 13th Street in Center City has become a bit more upscale. Gone are the loitering hookers and drug dealers, replaced by “no loitering” signs and other loitering hookers and drug dealers. But there is a Starr restaurant at 13th and Sansom, and a few other cool shops, so that means a turnaround.

It’s been such a turnaround, businesses say, that the area needed a new name! Well, okay, Washington Square West doesn’t really fit when Rittenhouse Square might be closer. But what about the already established, descriptive name the area has: The Gayborhood? Well, that might not attract suburbanites and tourists with their money, so on election night, 61 business owners voted to re-name the area “Midtown Village.”

Village? Midtown? Ugh. The other choices were New City, District 13 and B3, Blocks Below Broad, which sort of shows how they ended up with Midtown Village. District 13 sounds like some sort of futuristic prison block in a Kurt Russell movie. The voters did choose the best of a very ‘meh’ lot — hey, just like a real election! — so for that, they should be commended.

But Midtown Village sounds like a gated suburban housing development. And how will we explain to tourists that Continental Midtown is not the Starr restaurant in Midtown Village?

But, hey, the newly-formed business district has spoken, and Midtown Village (The MV, yo) it is. Perhaps it will catch on. (The MV! Yeah, I like this. “I’m headin’ down to the MV to see some art, get my nails down and buy an $8 martini.”) But I can tell you one thing: It’s no G-Ho.

To raise a profile, it takes a… [Inquirer]
June 14: G-Ho Gains Legitimacy No Blog Can Ever Give It