Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Welcome to What's going on? A show about
making a difference in our lives and our communities. I'm
Lorraine Balladmorrow. June is Pride Month, and we'll talk about
the upcoming Philly Pride three sixty five March and festival.
In our monthly feature Speak Out with attorney and advocate
Angela Giampolo, we'll explore the impact of the Defense Secretary's
(00:21):
ban on transgender military personnel. But first we begin with
a look at a community driven gun violence prevention event.
Although the cases of gun violence have dropped over the
last year or so, it's still a crisis here in
the city of Philadelphia. And we're going to be talking
to an incredible advocate for youth and community wellness to you, Luter,
(00:43):
board member of the Child Guidance Resource Centers. We'll be
talking about the upcoming United for Safety gun violence prevention
event happening on June seventh from eleven to two, along
with the impactful work that CGRC does every day to
support mental health and family will being well. Thank you
so much for joining us. Tell us about the upcoming
(01:04):
United for Safety event and what can the community expect
on June seventh.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yes, this is a very exciting event actually in the
community at our Southwest Philadelphia offices, which is right at
Island and Lindbergh Avenue, so it's very easy to get
two people can find it, and it's sort of a
community focus. There's children's activities and a resource fair and
food that's all free, and then a very educational and
(01:30):
impactful double set of panels, one with sort of community
activists and then another with legislators, so people from the
community have an opportunity to really talk about safety and
gun violence concerns with people who can make decisions and
make a direct impact. Then this year there's also going
to be a survivor's statement activity and an art exhibit
(01:51):
put together by Ceasefire PA, which I think really is
lays down on the mental health side of things. It
gives people an opportunity to talk about the kind of
impact that loss and violence and tragedy has on our
communities in a way through art as well as conversation.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
I wonder if you can tell us more about why
gun violence prevention is a big priority for your organization.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Sure well, if we think about our mission is to
provide mental well being to the greater community and children,
families and adults in the greater Philadelphia area. If you
think about a fundamental basic need, even Maslow's hierarchy of needs,
right the very first one is physical safety. And if
you don't feel safe in your home, if you don't
feel safe on your street, that undermines all of mental
(02:37):
health and mental wellness. It creates anxiety, depression, breaks up families,
the loss of someone by gun violence and then a
friend or relative reaches out and has to take revenge.
It just creates this incredible cascade of devastation that you
can't be well in an unsafe situation. So we feel
it's really really important to take not just treating the
(02:59):
illness that comes out of it, but to treat the
causes and to be an advocate and a leader in
the community to help people convene the conversations that need
to be happening.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
I wonder if you can tell us more about how
is it CGRC. Is that how you refer to it
or do you have a cool nickname?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
I call it child Guidance. It's Child Guidance Resource Centers
and a lot of people will in writing drop it
to CGRC. But then it's you know what is that ABFD.
I just think about it as child guidance, child guidance,
it is.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yes, that's great. Well, listen, you do provide resources, and
I wonder if you can talk more about the services
you provide and especially about how you support families and
children who've experienced trauma or mental health challenges.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Well, we have a couple of unique programs for a
family that is struggling in a traumatized family, We have
some in home services. Family First is one where a
team of therapists actually works with a family in their
own home, sees the at school in the communities for
thirty two weeks and provides basically therapy to everybody in
the family. If they also can provide supports if they
(04:09):
need to go shopping, they can help them get to
the store, they can help them organize you know who's
sleeping where? How do we help people get a job?
It's basically a mental health and social work combination intensely
in a family. Then we also offer trauma focused cognitive
behavioral therapy at all of our offices, even for little
kids like six, seven, eight years old who've experienced a
(04:33):
trauma where it's short term way of helping them get
their brains around and narration of the trauma of how
they want to understand what happened, and then it culminates
with them sharing the story with their family and loved ones,
which then helps the entire family kind of conceptualize things
that have happened. Those are two. All of our services
(04:53):
are trauma informed, right, because people come with lots of
different but in terms of specific to gun violence and loss,
those are two that are really really helpful.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I love what you say about your services because it's
not just about treating one individual, it's about treating the
whole family and doing it holistically. It's not just even
about the therapy, it's about all the different factors that
surround that family that can contribute to their healing when
it comes to experiencing trauma or different issues related to
(05:23):
mental wellness. So that is really unique and really wonderful.
I'm so happy to hear about the services you provide,
and I wonder if you can tell us some ways
that listeners can get involved to support the work you're doing,
especially around the June seventh event and beyond well.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
The most important impactful thing would be to show up
or send a friend or share that it's happening, because
anytime people talk about the event, that helps push back
against the stigma both a mental health and also of
the shame of gun violence. So I think that's the
first thing. And to drop by, tell a friend come by,
put your kids in the bouncy house, have a pres
(06:00):
so look at the art exhibit, maybe listen to the panels.
That would be the nicest thing. And I think that
since the pandemic, we really struggle to convene communities, and
whether they're convening in our community or somewhere else, those
would all be very helpful in terms of helping Child Guidance.
It is a desperate time out there right now for
mental health services. They are underfunded, understaffed. If anybody wants
(06:23):
to make a small donation or a big donation to
the mental health service of their choice, that would be great.
If it says dot org get the end of their website,
they need your.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Money, that is sadly very true. And certainly Child Guidance
is a great organization. To support the Child Guidance Resource Center,
which is happening an event call United for Safety Gun
Violence Prevention June seventh, from eleven to two. Where's the location.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, it's at our Southwest Philly office, which is at
the intersection of Island and Lindbergh Avenues in Southwest Philly.
It's about four minutes from the airport.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Great and what is your phone number and your website?
Speaker 2 (07:03):
The phone number is four eight four four or five
four eighty seven hundred and the website is CGRC dot org.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
To you Louter board member at the Child Guidance Resource Center.
Check it out June seventh. It is a United for
Safety gun violence prevention event. Very important to be talking
about this issue. Great resources available. Thank you so much
for joining us.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Women Against Abuse is hosting Phillies' Best Women Chef competition
June eleventh at the Crystal Tea Room in Center City.
The proceeds from dish it Up benefits survivors of domestic violence,
so get your tickets today at Women Against Abuse dot org.
(07:53):
I'm joined today by two leaders at the heart of
one of the largest and most inclusive Pride celebrations in
the country. Prabakerin, Executive director of the Urban Affairs Coalition,
and Jeremy Williams, event producer for Philly Pride three sixty five,
I hear to talk about the twenty twenty five Philadelphia
Pride March and Festival with the theme Philly Luv a Love, Legacy,
(08:15):
Unity and Visibility. This year's celebration features expanded programming, new partnerships,
and a powerful focus on lgbtqia plus history, inclusion and community.
So let's begin with aarun. The Urban Affairs Coalition is
now the fiscal sponsor or has been for Pride three
sixty five. Why has this partnership been important and how
(08:38):
does it reflect UAC's mission to serve diverse communities across Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Well, thank you, Lorrain, and I'm excited to talk about
Pride today. Galay, which has long been the home for
Pride three sixty five, has been an important organization in
our community for almost twenty years. They've done a groundbreaking work,
first in the Tino community around LGBTQI plus issues and
(09:04):
then now expanding its mission BIPOC folks generally. And it's
an important legacy of leaders like David o'costa, the legendary
Gloria Cassaris. And now we're very excited to say that
Tyrell Brown has been selected by the mayor to become
the executive director for LGBTQI Affairs, and so this is
(09:26):
an important moment in our history. Its historic moment in
our history as a city, and Pride is at a
really apex point. Tyrell was really one of the big
driving forces behind that project, and we really are grateful
to them. And ultimately, in this transition, we thought the
best way to help would be to make sure that
Pride was taken care of for one year and then
(09:48):
work with the community to figure out how to resituate
that program in a way that everyone feels super comfortable with.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Yeah, well, we're very excited about twenty twenty five, Jeremy.
This year's Pride weekend has some exciting new features like
the six hundred foot wide Pride Fly, the Pride Promenade
at the Art Museum, and Pride around the city. What
are you most excited for and how do these new
events build on last year's success.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
Well, thank you Agen for having us here today. It's
all really exciting, it's all really new. Every year Pride grows.
Every year the community gets more involved, and so that
means every year these events get more interesting and more involved.
I mean, we started with two hundred feet of Pride
flag a few years ago, and my goal is to
add on two hundred feet, you know, and keep going
(10:34):
and keep going until it's as big as we can
get it. So this year we have added another two
hundred feet onto the Pride flag and so that has
been you know, going to be visible with Pride around
the city. On Friday, May thirtieth, we're starting at the
Art Museum and moving to City Hall and in the
neighborhood and all around the city. We'll be doing that.
That's growing, that's super exciting. The Pride promenade at the
(10:56):
Art Museum on Saturday night, whichwas sort of just a
kind of traditional prom vibe you know you didn't get
to go to your prom or whatever, is now being
amplified and lifted up with the introduction of the Love
Awards that we are giving to different leaders and different
organizations in the community. That's being hosted by Josh Sanders
and Candice. So that's going to be really amazing performances
(11:19):
and opening a finale. It's going to have, you know,
the award feeling that you wanted to have. And then
the festival has just continued to grow. We're building additional
stages there's entertainment zones. Now we're trying to make it
feel a little bit like you're maybe at Bush Gardens
or a theme park where you kind of go from
like Germany to Italy to here to there. So our
(11:40):
entertainment zones feature different vibes and have different stages with
different acts on them, and different food trucks in the
area and different vendors in the area. We really are
trying to make our community feel together but have sort
of its own identity within its own spaces.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Just to get a little more into the weeds here.
In past its of Pride, there's been a parade, a
parade route. Last year was really more of a festival.
Is there going to be a parade or is it
going to be that sort of beautiful festival kind of atmosphere.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
So one of the things that's really unique about Philadelphia
in terms of Pride is that since our group, Philly
Pride three sixty five has taken on the weekend, we
have made Sunday be a march which is participatory and
not a parade which is observatory. Right, we want people
to come and participate in a march because Pride at
(12:34):
its heart is a protest. It was born out of
a protest, and so Pride month is about protests and
having a march. Is that way? Our fest that we
do in the fall is the celebration of coming out.
It's National coming Out Day. That's our parade, that's our celebration,
that's our big party. This is still a big party too,
but has that sort of grounding in protests and march
(12:56):
and civic duty.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
That's a beautiful thing. Now, last year's Pride events had
a major economic impact, nearly five million dollars invested in
LGBTQI owned businesses. How are you working to ensure Pride
continues to uplift small businesses, nightlife venues, and artists throughout
the year.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Again, Philadelphia is very unique in that, I think as
it relates to other prides across the United States. We
do focus on local vendors, we do focus on local entertainment,
We do focus on all the small businesses. We host
it in the gighborhood where you know it is based
in our world. You know, other prides seek outside artists
(13:35):
and spend lots of money on these amazing big artists
from all over the country, And we would much rather
uplift and support local artists, give them opportunities on stages.
I would say ninety percent of the people that are
performing or have an involvement with Pride are from Philly
or based in.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Philly, Jeremy, This festival truly offers something for everyone, from
the youth and Family zone to the Saffic Way so
vibes and sensory friendly spaces. How are you curating this
welcoming and inclusive environment for all identities and ages.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Well, that's a really good question. We as a production
company and organization have been very intentional in including community
organizations and members in producing these spaces. I am a
gay man, you know, I don't have all the ins
and outs of every part of my community. So we
really invest in people like the Attic and Philly Family
(14:30):
Pride to help us with the youth and family zone.
We have event producers like the Main Event and Jason
Bowman that are helping us with the Sweat stage creating
that area. So all of our areas are really curated
and brought together by community members, by producers in the
community to help curate those spaces. We're just merely helping
(14:50):
them with logistics and you know, getting the festival together.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yeah, there's a lot and there's something for everyone. I
wonder if you could tell us what you want marchers,
festivalgoers and allies to take away from Philly Pride twenty
twenty five and how can we all stay engaged beyond
this month of June.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
Just participate. Just be there, you know, being a part
of the march, being a part of the festival, going
to the prom supporting these people who are receiving awards.
Just be a part of the community. Don't speak out
in the bad way. You don't have to speak out
in a good way.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Just be there.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
We are a welcoming community. This is not Pride Festival
is for everybody. This isn't just about queer people. Allies
are all a part of that and we need all
of that throughout the entire year to make our lives
and everybody else is safer and happier.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
If people want more information about all the activities happening
for Pride month, how do they find out more?
Speaker 4 (15:42):
You can go to our website at Phillypride three sixty
five dot org. Everything there is updating regularly. Information is
coming in fast and furious, or you can follow us
on our social media at Philly Pride three sixty five.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Jeremy Williams, Event producer for Philly Pride three sixty five.
Aarun prabakerin executive director of the Urban Affairs, which is
a huge supporter of this event. Talking about the twenty
twenty five Philadelphia Pride March and Festival. The theme is
Philly Love, Legacy, Unity and Visibility and it is going
to be a fantastic party. I've been to just about
(16:15):
every Pride weekend over the last years and it's always
so much fun and so much joy, and we really
look forward to it. Thank you all for joining us today.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
We have a feature that we air once a month.
Every month, our monthly features Speak Out, spotlighting voices shaping
the LGBTQ plus experience locally and nationally. We're joined by
Angela Gimpolo, founder of Giampolo Law Group and widely known
as the Philly Gay Lawyer. A leading LGBTQ plus legal
expert in advocate, Angela is also the creator of Caravan
(16:55):
of Hope, a national initiative providing free legal services to
underserved LGBTQ plus communities. She brings a unique perspective on
the intersection of law, policy and lived experience, well as
always a pleasure to have you in the studio or
at least virtually in the studio. Now, there's so much
to talk about. Let's start with the military, because our
(17:17):
Defense Secretary has continued pressing on about eliminating trends individuals
from the military. Tell us where we're at right now
and what's being done.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
Yeah, So, a couple weeks ago, the Supreme Court lifted
an injunction that was pending with the Trump administration wanting
to ban all trans folks from active duty in the military.
And so when the Supreme Court lifted that injunction, they
said pending litigation, but it doesn't matter. They lifted the
(17:52):
injunction so the administration can begin the active removal of
trans folks from the military. Defense Secretary issued a memo
to the Pentagon saying that trans folks have until June
sixth to self identify themselves and voluntarily be dismissed from
(18:13):
the military. And for anyone who does not self identify
by June sixth as transgender, then after June sixth, they
can start investigating and looking into health records and or
if someone is even suspected to have gender dysphoria in
any way, they can be mandated to have undergo health
(18:37):
investigation and doctor's appointments and all of the things for
the Pentagon to decide whether or not this person has
gender dysphoria and then be involuntarily dismissed. Now that big
difference there between self identifying and taking a voluntary dismissal
and or not self identifying by June sixth and continuing
(18:57):
to fight this pending litigation has huge financial ramifications for folks,
their pensions, their health insurance. For a lot of folks,
these are single breadwinners and it's the income that entire
family relies on. But if someone has been in the
military for ten fifteen years and they put in their
(19:19):
time and then they don't self identify and take this
voluntary dismissal, they would lose all of their benefits up
until today.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
So yeah, that's insane. So I guess one of the
things that really the kind of the bottom line, and
something I think we need to stress is the fact
that there is no studies, no information, no anything that
indicates that people who aren't trands are any less capable
of being in the military than someone who is not
(19:51):
and when.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
Correct, and one of the declarations in de Fench Secretary's
memos is that that they're not competent, but that they
make us less vulnerable as a country, that them serving
for their country makes us more vulnerable and from a
defense perspective, and there is absolutely zero proof of that
(20:15):
that as a country we are less safe as a
result of trans folks serving in the military. And for
a lot of commanders who have issued statements against these memos,
in fact, they say the exact opposite, that not only
are they some of the hardest working and loyal members
of the military. But again, anyone and you know this,
(20:38):
we've talked about this, but anyone who comes from a
diverse background in any way, shape or form, whatever diversity
they bring to the table, be it age, race, sexual orientation,
gender identity, whatever diversity they hail from, always adds new
perspective to problem solving, right because they've been problem solving,
(21:00):
they've lived outside of sort of the box, if you will.
And so the studies actually, and not only do the
studies show that it's helpful to have a group of
diverse folks, but a lot of commanders who have issued
statements in contradiction to this, have said that there's some
of the best military service folks that have ever worked
(21:22):
under them in their entire career.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Right, And you could certainly argue that by putting this
kind of restriction that in the past when we had
don't ask, don't tell, that it put people in that
uncomfortable position of being potentially threatened, perhaps with the argument
that if you were LGBTQIA, that that would make you
(21:48):
prone to blackmail or any kind of pressure. But it
seems like the opposite would be true, because if you're
forced then to go back in the closet, then that
does create this kind of vulnerability because you have something
to lose if you do reveal that you are lgbt
QIA or specifically trans or in any of those letters, right.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Right, Yeah, I mean there were actually studies done about
don't ask, don't tell, and again that that's something to
lose means you have something that you have to hide. Right,
So think of that individual service member trying to serve
a country while also hiding this essential part of themselves
(22:30):
and so from a mental health perspective and the added
subsequent issues that these folks dealt with and mental health
issues that were generated by the fact that they had
to hide that made them less able to serve at
their peak, at their potential.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Right, because there a lot of studies that we're done.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
For the stress exactly associated with it, saying studies have
been done about workplace you know, when you have folks
that can just be who they are at the workplace, right.
HRC had a slogan, if it makes sense, it makes dollars. Right,
and equality makes sense because it actually generates more money
for a company because you have people working at their
(23:11):
peak and their potential and their authentic self and they're
not busy hiding.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
And with hide income shame, and with shame.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
Comes mental health issues, and then you don't have the
most productive employee the most productive service member. So a
lot of studies have been done saying that you know,
especially don't ask, don't tell where they were allowed to
serve but had to hide it that the impact on
service members caused the exact sort of self fulfilling prophecy.
Speaker 6 (23:39):
And the Defense Secretary is saying, now, so tell.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Us where we're at. From a legal standpoint, there seems
to be you know, the effort to continue and being
justified that this can happen. What are the challenges to
this effort to eliminate trends from the military. Is there
any legal remedy here?
Speaker 5 (24:00):
So all of the litigation that was started back when
Inauguration Day hit and they stated then that this is
what they were going to do, so the lawsuits started then.
Then that's when this nationwide injunction pending litigation basically stopped
the Trump administration. But the Supreme Court said we're going
to lift that injunction again pending litigation. So there are
(24:23):
active lawsuits ongoing. But if it doesn't end well and
a service member does not voluntarily self identify and take
the voluntary dismissal, then they are hedging their bets. That's
somewhere down the line. Again, don't ask, don't tell. Just
a couple of years ago, fifteen years later, did some
(24:46):
of the service members get their benefits paid back. So
folks really have to look at their life and their
livelihood and what's at stake and make a decision because
the pending litigation piece could years, could take a decade
before this ever resolves itself. And if you need this
money in order to survive, you need your pension. You
(25:07):
need your benefits. Folks have a really hard decision to
make in the next few weeks.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Yeah, well, there's so much to talk about in our
limited amount of time, but in the few minutes that
we have left, it really is like drinking from fire
hose right now in terms of dealing with all the
various issues that are coming up around the LGBTQIA plus community.
What is another issue that you want to make sure
that we're aware of.
Speaker 5 (25:33):
I would say there's a recent judge ruling in Texas
that came down where he said that you are despite
there being a Supreme Court case again vos Dot v.
Clinton protecting LGBTQ folks under Title seven from employment discrimination.
He said, yes, Title seven protects LGBTQIA plus folks from
(25:58):
being fired at work, but not being discriminated against or harassed.
You can harass folks at work, you can discriminate against
them at work, you just under Title seven cannot fire
them at work. And so that is a federal judge
ruling out of Texas right now, in complete contravention against
(26:19):
boss Stock v. Clayton, which ultimately again that will need
to work its way up to the Supreme Court. But
it puts boss Stoc v. Clayton, just like obergerfell in
marriage equality. It puts Boss Stock v.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
Clayton.
Speaker 5 (26:31):
It was a way, in my opinion, to get Boss
Stock v. Clayton back in front of this particular Supreme Court.
Twenty twenty's Supreme Court makeup decided Bosstoc Vie Clayton. It
is much more pro LGBTQ. So this crazy ruling that
now there are lawsuits against it, must now make its
way up to the Supreme Court. And now we could
(26:51):
see Bosstoc v. Clayton being eviscerated just like Obergerfell.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Like we will and as we always like to do,
is draw some conclude usions about how these kinds of
issues are impacting the general population, because you know, it's
it's like a ripple in a pond. I mean, you
drop a pebble somewhere on one side of it, and
the ripples are going to affect everybody eventually. So tell
(27:15):
us what are some of the conclusions that you arrive
at in terms of it's broader.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
And it was on this panel years ago. It's almost
ten years ago.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
And Pennsylvania as a state does not have statewide employment
protections for LGBTQ folks. And so I'll never forget I
was on this panel with this black woman, a professor,
and she had no idea that as a lesbian she
could be fired at work, but not as a black woman.
Speaker 6 (27:43):
Right.
Speaker 5 (27:43):
So Title seven protects race, age, disability, and gender identity
and sexual orientation. And so if now we can say, okay, yeah,
Title seven, you know, says that LGBTQ folks can't be
fired at work, but we can harass them.
Speaker 6 (27:58):
Right, what does that say for black folks? What does
that say for a sixty six year old person at work?
What does that say for right?
Speaker 5 (28:06):
So again it always comes back, you know, to that
poem of they came for the Jews, but I wasn't
a Jew, so I didn't stand up. Then they came
for me and there was nobody left to stand up.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
Right, So Title seven doesn't just protect LGBTQ folks, It
protects a lot of marginalized communities. And if they can
start saying that they can discriminate against us, what happens
when they.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
Come for you?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Angela Giampolo. If people want to know more about the
work that you do, because you do a lot with
Wills and trusts and things like that, which is of
special importance to people in the LGBTQIA plus community, but
important for us all as well. How do they get
in touch with you?
Speaker 5 (28:47):
Absolutely so you can just reach out to my law firm,
Jampolo Law Group, call the office two on five six
four five twenty four fifteen, and you can find me
on Instagram as your gay lawyer.
Speaker 6 (28:58):
But we do.
Speaker 5 (28:59):
Represent everyone I say, we represent the LGBTQ community and
those who love us.
Speaker 6 (29:03):
That is my only requirement.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Absolutely love that Angela Giampolo, whose work continues to inspire
and advocate for equality and justice within the LGBTQ plus community,
but really all of us as well. Angela as always, thank.
Speaker 6 (29:18):
You, Thank you LORII.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in keyword Community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app key Words Philadelphia
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morral and I stand for service to
our community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
(29:40):
You've been listening to what's going on, and thank you