New attack on sexual minorities in Phila

[BrianR]

Behind The Scenes
501 Armstrong St
Phila Pa 19144
www.phillyfetish.com (the website is back up)
215 438 1946
btsphilly@aol.com

ok so this is what i will be doing in the next few days....plus what i need
other people to do to support us....if you call anyone or write letters be
brief and to the point...dont give any info on anything you know about the
club...dont talk about people or what goes on there specifically....just give
your opinions and feelings and be really nice.....stress its a private club
for consenting adults ...no alcohol is allowed....and everything is Safe,
Sane and Consensual....if you send faxes or snail mail and you are
comfortable with it put it on letterhead....you DO NOT have to use your real
name....send me copies of anything you send that is written and let me know
if you call anyone.

so far i have talked to several individuals from several groups;

Pennsylvania Lesbian and Gay Task Force ...i sent them an accounting of all
that has happened and they have been a wealth of info for me.

on monday i will contact Stacy Sobel and Tiffany Palmer from the Center for
Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights looking for advice, action and possible legal
help. I believe that is where Andrew Parks is also and he has already
contacted me offering help.

i am supposed to send a 2 line letter to Rep Myers and Rep Evans asking for
clarification on whether the rumors were true that they gave the order to L&I
to come to the club and find a reason to shut us down.

you can help by writing letters to them or calling their offices expressing
support for the club;

Hon John Myers
5847 Germantown Ave
Phila Pa 19144
215 849 6896
fax; 215 560 1824

Hon Dwight Evans
7174 Ogontz Ave
Phila Pa 19138
215 549 0220
fax; 215 549 8965

i will contact Larry Frankel at the Pa ACLU on monday

i will write a letter to Sylvester Johnston, Acting Police Commisioner, and
Lt Greene, Vice Unit, detailing what we perceived as unacceptable negative
attitudes from some of their officers directed at members of the club related
to their status as a sexual minority....overall their officers were courteous
and really should be thanked....we had a problem with a few of them and that
will be dealt with....we will try and get them to participate in some sort of
BDSM and sexual minority sensitivity program....does anyone know of one that
other groups in other cities have used?

i COULD file a complaint with Hector Soto , police civilian review committee
however i am going to hold off on that until the LGBT liason to the police
dept (who we met with today) meets with Officer Taino and discusses this
issue.

I will also hold off on filing a lawsuit until we hear from the liason.

We will be meeting with a representative from Councilman DiCiccos office....i
am trying to set up a meeting between us for tomorrow to discuss the L&I
issue...DiCicco is the city council liason to L&I and also writing the
transgendered legislation for the city and is considered LGBT friendly...the
goal here is to get the club open without filing lawsuits asap. it is our
contention that we have been in compliance with L&I and anything else they
want us to do will be done but in the mean time we should be allowed to open
and operate.

if that doesnt get us open immediately we will file a lawsuit.

the landlord wants to file a lawsuit against the city immediately to get us
open.....i am supporting him in anything he wants to do as the landlord....he
is working with us and will make sure violations are taken care of
properly....he is also amenable to helping us out financially speaking as we
cant really pay the bills right now if we arent open....however we are going
to do everything we can to make sure he does get paid rent and
utilities....he is an old man (sorry harold but you are older than God) and
this building is his only income and he depends on it.

we will contact L&I on tuesday (at their request) to find out what the
violations are....if you are a licensed pa electrician we will need help with
the permit and work....we have lots of volunteers to help with anything else
that needs to be done....anyone who wants to help volunteer should contact
the volunteer coordinator at beth@bethx.com

i will be giving an interview with the Phila Inquirer and the Phila Daily
News asap

i will not be talking to anyone from the tv press unless they do a crappy
report...they can read about us in the paper.

i have been referred to several attorneys to see about getting
representation;

Hetznecker, Rudolfski and Kairys, Larry Krasner, Andi Erba and Gloria
Guard...if you know any of these attorneys and can use your relationship with
them to encourage them to help us pro bono please do.

we need to write letters to the district attorneys office THANKING her for
her progressive and enlightened attitude towards private members only sex
positive clubs in the city that are operating legally...like BTS....and
encouragng her to help enlighten other city officials.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham
1421 Arch St
Phila, Pa 19102
215 686 8000
fax 215 563 0047
da_webmail@phila.gov

we need to encourage Councilman DiCicco to support BTS and allow us to reopen
asap....mentioning that 40 gun toting law enforcement officials sent to
check on wiring is overkill....and thanking him for supporting sexual
minorities....tell him how important BTS is to you....that its our community
center as well as a safe place for us ....

Councilman Frank DiCicco
City Hall
Room 332
Phila, Pa 19107
215 686 3458
215 686 3459
fax 215 686 1931

We need to raise some money while we are closed to pay the bills we already
have and the new ones we are about to have...donations can be sent to;

BTS
P O Box 150
Pennsauken, NJ 08110

you can use PayPal sent to btsphilly@aol.com

if you want to have your donation be creditied towards a new membership or a
Foundership we will do that....just let us know that....memberships are $50
per person for a lifetime membership....$35 per person if part of a couple or
a member of another dues paying alternative lifestyle organization....$1000
for a Foundership which means you get into all BTS events free forever plus
other perks.

also dont forget we need to support NCSF (our raffle friday night got
interrupted and we had great prizes too....we will continiue it when we
reopen dont you worry).....become a member or send them a donation if you
can....www.ncsfreedom.org

if you see anything in the media please let me know right away

if you hear anything on call in radio shows let me know right away and try
and get the phone #....feel free to call in if you feel you can have a
positive effect on the discussion.

if you were at the club on friday night and heard or saw anything you feel i
should know send me the info asap....especially if it pertains to how our
members were treated.

if you need to talk to me and its an emergency and you cant get thru on the
club phone, call mikes cell phone at 609 760 1749

thanks guys)

Anna and Michael

any other suggestions of things to do please let us know

and by the way L&I means Licenses and Inspections and ATF is Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms (none of which are allowed at the club)